Banca Mediolanum Stock

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Banca Mediolanum H1 2026 Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

I would now like to hand the conference over to Alessandra Lanzone, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, madam.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to our first half '26 results conference call. It is a pleasure to have you with us today.

Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that during the Q&A session, you're welcome to ask your questions in the language of the line you are calling from. We'll answer in Italian as usual, but with simultaneous English translation.

With that, I'll turn the call over to our CEO, Massimo Doris, joined with our CFO, Angelo Lietti. Thank you.

Thank you, Alessandra. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us.

The first half of the year reminded us that the world will always find new reasons to create uncertainty. The year began with shifting expectations around interest rates. During the second quarter, renewed geopolitical tensions, higher energy prices and periods of market volatility added another layer of complexity.

While the headlines changed, one thing did not, the importance of helping our customers, stay focused on their long-term financial goals. Indeed, our customers didn't stop investing, didn't freeze and didn't retreat. They continued to invest with confidence, relying on the professional guidance of our Family Bankers rather than reacting to short-term market movements in either direction. For us, periods like this reinforce the value of advice.

Our customers don't expect us to remove uncertainty. They do expect us to help them navigate it. This philosophy has shaped Mediolanum for more than 40 years. Different market environments naturally favor different parts of our business. And this is precisely the strength of our integrated and diversified business model. The way we are built gives us the freedom to respond to changing conditions without changing our direction, while continuing to invest in our customers, our network and the long-term development of our bank.

As a result, the conversation around Banca Mediolanum is evolving. It is no longer simply about the sustainability of earnings in a changing interest rate environment. Increasingly, it is about the quality of our growth, the breadth of our business and our ability to continue creating long-term value. I'm pleased to say that the first half of the year provides further evidence of that progress.

I'll begin with the economic and financial highlights in Slide 4. The clearest takeaway from the first half is that our business continues to broaden with strong contributions across the various businesses.

Let me show you what I mean as we turn to Slide 4, starting off with the bottom line. Net income in the first half came in at EUR 555.5 million, up 16% year-on-year. The strength of our core revenues was particularly evident. Contribution margin reached EUR 1.16 billion, up 14%; and operating margin, one of the concrete signals of the quality of our earnings, came in at EUR 683 million, advancing 20% versus the prior year.

Results were supported by net commission income growth, up 10% to nearly EUR 706 million, helped by solid recurring fees with management fees and investment management fees together up 12%, as you can see detailed in Slide 8. Net commission income growth was further supported by banking service fees, which also had a meaningful impact, rising 29%.

Net interest income was once again a very strong contributor despite a markedly different rate environment versus H1 last year, coming in at EUR 478.5 million, up 30%. The improvement reflected a combination of structural factors and more favorable repricing dynamics. We entered the year with a stronger funding base as the growing contribution of customer deposits provided a broader, more stable and cost-efficient source of funding.

At the same time, higher interest rates at the beginning of the year supported performance from the second quarter onwards, while active balance sheet management including -- included the front-loading of part of the government bond portfolio in Q1. The year-on-year comparison in funding costs was particularly -- was also particularly favorable at both treasury and retail level. In H1 2025, the retail cost of funding reflected 2 large promotional campaigns in time deposits priced at 5% and 4% compared with 2 campaigns at 3%, impacting H1 this year, which resulted in a materially lower funding cost. Finally, the growth in the credit book achieved in the previous periods provided additional support.

Now looking below the operating margin, non-recurring items came to EUR 76 million. In particular, performance fees crystallized to date amounted to EUR 74 million compared with the EUR 49 million in the same period last year.

Now let me say a few words about ratios. The cost/income ratio dropped to 36.1% from 37.6% of the full year 2025. Maintaining cost discipline has gone hand-in-hand with continued investment in the areas that support our future growth, including technology, our commercial network and the customer experience. The ratio of acquisition cost to gross commissions inched up from 34.8% to 35.8%, reflecting a timing mismatch between the recognition of contest-related costs and the associated revenues.

Before we wrap up, let me touch briefly on credit. The 12-month rolling cost of risk remained contained at 19 basis points at the end of June, consistent with our expectation.

Slide 8 covers the remaining income statement lines, and I'd like to highlight a few key points. Banking service fees reached nearly EUR 158 million, up 29% year-on-year. This fees received an additional boost of EUR 78 million from certificate sales, which were particularly strong also in the second quarter, rising sharply in the first 6 months from EUR 700 million to EUR 1.2 billion, an increase of more than 70%.

In fact, favorable market conditions led to the early redemption of a number of auto-callable products, allowing customers to lock in attractive coupons, and in many cases reinvest the proceeds in newly issued certificates.

Impairment on loans were higher in the period, going from EUR 14 million to over EUR 20 million. The year-on-year comparison is also influenced by the exceptionally low level recorded in Q1 2025, following the introduction of a new expected credit loss model for retail exposures. Apart from that, the level of provisioning remains consistent with recent periods.

Turning to Slide 5. Let me walk you through the business results for the half year. Commercial performance continued at a strong pace with total net inflows at EUR 6.37 billion, up 4%. The quality of those inflows was particularly resilient with net inflows into managed assets at EUR 4.2 billion, only mid-single digit below last year's record level, which we see as a very strong outcome, picking up pace in the second quarter. And with July's excellent results, we expect to further narrow the gap versus last year.

Total assets at the end of June amounted to EUR 168.23 billion, up 8% since the start of the year and up 16% versus H1 last year.

Loans granted increased 12% year-on-year to nearly EUR 2.1 billion, supporting further growth in the credit book. In fact, the credit book at the half year point were 4% higher than at the beginning of the year, coming in at EUR 19.69 billion, up 9% year-on-year.

General insurance also did well in the first 6 months, with gross premiums up 13% at EUR 129 million. You know, we see general insurance as a core component of our customer proposition, helping safeguard both customers' wealth and their financial security. New business of stand-alone policies continued to lead growth, up 17%.

Slide 6 highlights another excellent performance in the first 6 months for our growth drivers. We acquired almost 110,000 new customers, bringing our total customer base to nearly 2.1 million, an increase of 3% since year-end. Our Family Banker network at the group level grew even faster, increasing by 5%. More importantly, the number of top-tier bankers, those managing portfolios of more than EUR 50 million, rose by 19% over the period, reaching a total of 826. Their assets expanded by 20%, bringing the average portfolio of these top-tier bankers to EUR 81 million at the end of June.

On top of this, our automatic investment services remain an important structural growth driver, generating a steadily increasing stream of recurring inflows. Our intelligent investment strategy continues to gain momentum. We now have almost EUR 6 billion invested in money market funds, which are expected to transition gradually into equities over an average period of around 3.5 years. And this number grew 18% from the beginning of the year.

Additionally, we have more than EUR 4 billion of liquidity contractually committed to move into mutual funds over the next 12 months, as shown in the last 2 lines of Slide 6. This includes more than EUR 1.26 billion in Double Chance deposits, 50% higher than at the start of the year and over EUR 2.82 billion from installment plans. Yearly flows into installment plans have grown significantly since the beginning of the year, rising 13%, supported by the strong commercial focus we have placed on encouraging customers to factor longevity into their retirement planning.

A key driver has been the increasing use of TFR, the Italian employee end-of-service allowance, as a regular contribution to pension plans. This helps customers build retirement savings in a more efficient way.

Turning to Slide 7. Our balance sheet metrics continue to confirm the strength of the Group's financial position. Our CET1 ratio remained very strong at 22.7% without including first half net income in regulatory capital. The MREL TREA ratio increased compared with year-end, reflecting the replacement of the EUR 300 million senior preferred bond outstanding at the end of 2025 with a new EUR 500 million issuance in January. This leaves us comfortably above the 22% requirement.

The leverage ratio is likely from 9.5% at year-end to 8.6%, mainly due to the temporary expansion of the banking book following the front-loading of government bond investments during the first quarter.

Let's move to our network in Italy, which stands at 5,473 Family Bankers at the end of June. Recruitment gained significant momentum in the first half with 394 professionals joining Banca Mediolanum, 69% more than in the same period last year. The new entrants included 208 experienced professionals and 186 banker consultants recruited through our NEXT program. Among the senior hires, almost 1 in 2 came from the banking or insurance industry, bringing experience as private bankers, relationship managers or branch managers. This is an important endorsement of our model. Professionals who have already built successful careers elsewhere increasingly see Banca Mediolanum as the right environment in which to develop their businesses and establish deeper, longer-lasting relationships with customers.

The reason lies in the way our organization is designed. Family Bankers are not just simply a distribution channel. They are at the heart of our customer proposition. Our training, technology, product offering and operating structure are all built to support their work and strengthen their relationship they have with customers.

In parallel, our Banker Consultants program remains one of the most strategic investments in the future of our network, creating a strong pipeline of new talent. High-caliber graduates receive structured training at our corporate university, together with hands-on experience alongside senior bankers, allowing them to develop well-rounded skills faster.

But the impact goes beyond training. The program supports productivity, organic growth and generational renewal, both among our advisers and our customers. It also creates a valuable exchange of skills between generations. Senior bankers pass on their experience and knowledge of customer relationships, while younger banking consultants help them make greater use of new technologies and more digital ways of working. This also prepares us for the transfer of wealth from one generation to the next and helps us build stronger relationships with younger customers.

The fact that the remuneration of the banker consultants is covered by the senior banker also creates a strong sense of shared commitment and alignment from the outset.

Slide 35 gives us a clear sense of how far the project has come. At the end of July, 783 banking consultants were already active in the network, up from 590 at the end of December '25, with a further 164 currently in training. By the end of 2026, we expect the banking consultant population to exceed 1,000, including both those already active in the network and those still completing their Executive Master's program.

We are now seeing a clear and accelerating improvement in the productivity of senior bankers working with a banker consultant. These bankers were already outperforming their peers from the start, and their outperformance has widened significantly over time. The impact is particularly evident in 2 areas: managed asset inflows where the productivity gap widened from 4% to 28%, and customer acquisition where it rose from 40% to 78%. The message is clear. The model is working, productivity is rising, and there is still meaningful room for further improvement.

Now let's turn to Spain on Slide 30, looking at the main highlights. Operating margin reached EUR 31.3 million, a 12% increase compared to H1 2025, while net income stood at EUR 30.8 million, 26% higher. Total assets appreciated notably with a solid increase of 11% versus year-end to nearly EUR 17.2 billion with managed assets also moving up to EUR 13.5 billion with an increase of 13% since the start of the year.

Total net inflows in the period were positive at EUR 1.1 billion, while managed asset flows came to EUR 845 million. And taking a look at lending, the credit book has now reached EUR 1.9 billion, up 10% versus year-end.

Meanwhile, the Family Banker network grew to 1,691, up 2% since the start of the year and 4% year-on-year. The key point here is the step-up in productivity over the past 5 years, mirroring what we've delivered in Italy.

Average assets rose from EUR 5.5 million in 2020 to EUR 10.1 million today.

Finally, our customer base in Spain expanded to over 296,000, marking a 4% increase versus the end of the year and 9% versus H1 last year.

Let me also give you a brief update on our Grandi Patrimoni program illustrated on Slide 73. This is definitely one of our most important long-term strategic initiatives. It addresses a structurally attractive market where we believe we are well positioned to grow faster than the market, both in terms of customers and assets. As you probably know, this program is designed to provide a highly personalized advisory service capable of addressing our customers' more complex wealth management needs through a strategic and long-term approach.

At the end of June, we served more than 4,500 customers with assets exceeding EUR 2 million, representing approximately EUR 21 billion of total assets. Our ambition is to grow assets in this segment to around EUR 30 billion by 2030.

What is particularly encouraging is that we are not simply increasing the size of this business. We are also improving its quality. Growth continues to be driven by managed assets, supporting the long-term sustainability of our recurring revenues while strengthening our relationships with these customers.

For us, Grandi Patrimoni is much more than a private banking proposition. It is a strategic platform that allows us to increase our share of wallet, leverage the full scope of our advisory capabilities and create long-term value in one of the fastest-growing segments of the Italian market.

Finally, let me briefly touch on AI. We see AI as a powerful enabler of our business model. It helps us deliver an even better experience for our customers, provide our Family Bankers with smarter tools and insight and improve efficiency across the head office. In fact, these are the key areas our AI strategy is focused on: customer, network and the head office.

We currently have more than 100 AI initiatives underway with 19 already deployed, delivering tangible benefits in terms of service quality, productivity and cost efficiency. These initiatives span the entire customer interaction framework from conversational banking and personalized customer experience to AI-powered advisory tools, training and coaching for our Family Bankers as well as solutions supporting operations, lending, insurance, asset management and software development.

Across the industry, AI is rapidly becoming a standard capability rather than a differentiator. What will differentiate institutions is not whether they use AI, but how effectively they integrate it into their business model and customer proposition. Technology evolves quickly, but trust does not. We believe AI will strengthen, but never replace the trusted relationship between our customers and our Family Bankers.

That relationship is also at the heart of another strategic theme we are particularly committed to, longevity. We believe it represents one of the defining demographic trends of our time and one where we have chosen to invest significantly in our offering, our expertise and our communication.

Building on this conviction, we have developed a dedicated longevity program aimed at helping customers prepare financially for longer lives. It brings together retirement planning, TFR transfers, voluntary pension contributions, regular saving plans and protection solutions into a single advisory framework. Through dedicated tools, our Family Bankers can identify customers who are likely to benefit most from this approach and provide personalized guidance. We will share more details on this strategic program later this year at our 9-month results presentation.

The objective is twofold: helping customers build greater financial resilience over time while creating a meaningful and sustainable driver of future growth for our group.

Against this backdrop, we remain confident about the outlook for 2026. In particular, we expect net inflows into managed assets to be around EUR 9 billion, assuming normal market conditions. We see net interest income up between 15% and 18% versus 2025. We are targeting a cost/income ratio of around 38%. We expect cost of risk to be around 20 bps. We intend to increase dividend per share versus the EUR 0.80 base dividend.

To wrap up, I believe the first half reinforces a simple but important message. Our sources of growth are becoming broader with our strategic initiatives beginning to contribute across the business. This gives us confidence not because the external environment is becoming easier, we know it isn't, but because our integrated and diversified model allows us to adapt to changing conditions while continuing to move forward whatever the environment. At the end of the day, markets will change, technology will evolve, trust remains our most valuable asset.

Thank you for your time, and as always, for your continued trust and support.

Thank you, Massimo. We can now open the Q&A session.

[Operator Instructions] First question comes from Gianluca Ferrari, Mediobanca, please.

I would like to talk about this EUR 1.2 billion in certificates, quite a robust figure in this first half. What's the outlook for the second part of the year? And where do you post it in terms of revenues? And then I'm referring to also the actively managed certificates by the network.

My second question focuses on Spain. I know you are not really keen on extraordinary transactions or deals, especially in Italy. But what about Spain, considering the extremely good positioning of Mediolanum in that country? Are you maybe looking at some boutiques or other companies? Or would you continue on betting on just organic growth as you did in Italy?

Grandi Patrimoni, you mentioned 4,000 clients. I'd like to know what the breakup is between gross margin and the other type of segment.

Well, when you were asking the first question about certificates, we lost you halfway through the sentence. Could you repeat?

Yes, the EUR 1.2 billion that were sold in the first half of the year is a high amount. I was wondering whether we can expect the same in the second half of the year. And also, I'd like to know whether you are just working on plain vanilla certificates or actively managed certificates.

Those are plain vanilla certificates. We expect a slight drop in the second half, but it also depends on how many auto-callable certificates there will be because we take a look at due dates and certain or almost certain auto-callable certificates, but the auto callability does make the difference. In the first half, there were very many auto-callable certificates. So it's unlikely that in the second half, the same identical phenomenon happens. So we expect a slight decline. I'm just referring to certificates. I'm not referring to inflows into managed assets.

As far as M&A in Spain, not really, hardly possible. We are growing. Spain is evolving a lot. In the last 5 years, the average assets per Family Banker has practically doubled, and that was one of our goals.

In terms of net inflows, we have hit all-time highs even though the network has grown only by a few units. So we don't plan to go in and break this equilibrium, doesn't sound right. It doesn't sound like the right thing to do.

As far as Grandi Patrimoni, Gianluca, if you don't mind, we can cover this later on. Maybe we can call you up later after the call.

Next question comes from Davide Giuliano, Equita.

July net inflows, as far as I could understand, it was very good. And I would like to have more color what are the products clients are asking for? And have you identified any change of approach by your clients considering the dynamic of rates in July?

Then performance fees. How many of the performance fees have not been recognized through profit and loss yet? And then considering the recent evolution, are you identifying maybe the possibility of having a step-up in the recruitment of new professionals.

As far as the July net inflow is concerned, I won't give numbers, but I can confirm it's running very well, and it's all managed assets.

As far as performance fees that have not been recognized yet through profit and loss, we are talking about some EUR 220 million and if everything remains the same by the end of this year.

As far as new recruits, you see that we are really faring very well, much better than last year. However, you might have seen that some 50% come from banks or insurance companies, the remaining 50% come from other sectors.

As to other networks, we are really talking about negligible numbers, a few units. As usual, for us, we really get very little from other networks, but our recruitment really focuses on banks and insurance companies as of lately and then from completely different sectors where these people are salespeople, for example, they come from other sectors. We train them and we turn them into Family Bankers.

I expect these new entries or new recruits to keep on growing because our recruitment and selection machine has a very slow start. There is a lot of inertia because one thing is winning over a client, completely different thing is to ask a person to quit, their job to change their lives, their job, then getting enrolled in the certified logs and then start all the training. But I think this is going to keep up.

[Operator Instructions] Next question Alberto Villa, Intermonte.

I just have one question. Net interest income, you have kind of given us higher guidance for this year. What are your assumptions in terms of commercial policies and initiatives in general, considering that the scenario for rates is different. So I wonder what your expectations are for the remaining part of 2026 and 2027. Do you have an NII target for next year?

As to our initiatives, commercial initiatives, well, first of all, as usual, in the fall, we'll launch another such initiative. It's already been planned. As far as the rate that we will offer, I cannot say anything. We will know later on because when we are launching the initiative, we'll look at the market, look at competitors and try and launch a competitive initiative.

As far as NII, in 2027, we expect a 5% increase with a 2.6% average Euribor. Of course, then we will have to recompute the whole thing once we know what the actual Euribor is this year. For reasons, we made certain predictions, but then the actual Euribor was higher than expected, and we had to revise our assumptions.

No other questions on the Italian conference. Now I hand it over to the English conference call.

[Operator Instructions] We will now take the first question on the English line from the line of [ Zach Wurz ] from Autonomous Research.

I have 3, please. The first is on Grandi Patrimoni and the acceleration in customer growth you've seen in the segment during recent quarters. Can you help us understand what's driving that acceleration? Is it primarily wallet share gains from existing clients or new client acquisition? If it is new client acquisition, what do you think is proving attractive about the proposition for those clients?

The second is on Family Banker recruitment. What do you think is driving the acceleration there? And how should we think about the lag between recruitment and seeing a meaningful contribution to net inflows?

And then the last one is on AI. Can you just give us some concrete examples of tools that are being deployed across the organization? And over what time frame should we start to see those benefits reflected in productivity or efficiency metrics?

As far as Grandi Patrimoni is concerned, not only is the number of customers increasing within this bracket, maybe they were already existing customers with less than EUR 2 million worth of assets, but then now their worth is increasing. And therefore they are jumping over on to the top class of Grandi Patrimoni net worth -- in high net worth individuals. And then there are new clients being acquired.

What is really driving this acceleration? Well, it's a mix of different factors. Indeed, from a certain point of view, the Banca Mediolanum brand is becoming more and more renowned and strong among this class of clients. It's really becoming well renowned and also as a private banking brand, and we are actually investing in this area.

We launched a campaign. It was not broadcast through TV or media, but it was rather a press or an out-of-door, it was a printed media or with out-of-door billboards.

And then we have the increase in terms of knowledge and expertise of our network. We have people that are getting more and more experts and competent. And then we have new recruits of expert people coming from traditional banks. All these different factors are driving the growth and success of this initiative.

Let me just remind you that we set up this project named Grandi Patrimoni because already back then, we had reported a strong increase in this cluster of clients. So we thought, if we really focus on this area and we create ad hoc products designed for these clients and also services supporting our Family Bankers, of course, our top Family Bankers who can really go and contact these clients. So by tackling both sides, we can bring about an acceleration within this business area, which is exactly what is happening.

As far as the recruitment is concerned, why are we reporting an acceleration? Well, 3 years ago, we started to focus on this area. For years, the number of Family Bankers was unchanged and then it started growing, thanks to the NEXT program.

But actually, that was not enough because we wanted to see an increase not only in banking consultant, but also in actual Family Bankers. So we revised the entire recruitment process. We selected supervisors along an enhanced process. We also changed our compensation system without changing the cost for the bank, but really tweaking things here and there in order to enhance their -- to incentivize them. This project was started a couple of years ago, and now it start to pay off.

Thank you. There are no further questions.

No, just a second. I was just waiting to receive information from my colleagues. The contribution of new recruits hovers around EUR 1.2 billion, EUR 1.3 billion for the year.

You asked abouts AI examples or AI tools. For example, Family Bankers use an app that includes a lot of information, provides them with a lot of information. And I'm talking about general information, not specifically on their clients, which, of course, they already have.

But talking about the various product characteristics, new commercial initiatives, maturities and so on and so forth and deadlines. They already had all this information, but the query or the research process didn't work very well. Now thanks to the artificial intelligence process, they obtain this information much more rapidly.

Another example. We are leveraging artificial intelligence to read documents linked to mortgage loans, up until yesterday, so to speak. Any time a new mortgage loan had to be granted, we collect a number of documents from the borrower, from the client. We obtain these documents and then an outsourcer analyze all these documents to see that everything is correct that nothing is missing, that there are no errors and so on and so forth.

We started to run a parallel process with an AI tool that analyzes all these documents. So what we saw is that the speed of response, if there are any documents missing, any mistakes and so on and so forth, we saw that with AI, things are much speedier. And thanks to this, the outsourcing costs are really plummeting because I obtained the response from the AI tool. But then, of course, we always have a human control at the end of the process. But at that point, they don't have to check the entire documentation, but only the output of the AI program, which is another among the many examples of how artificial intelligence is being used and the outcome and effect we get from that.

This is an immediate outcome because the more the number of documents I ask AI to process, the less I spend for the outsourcing service. Of course, the outsourcing service is still going to check that everything is okay at the end of the process. But rather than needing 10 people to cover a 1 day workload, they will just need 2 people to manage the same daily workload, which means that I am saving 80% of the cost.

Thank you, Zach. Are there any other questions?

Thank you. No further questions on the English line. I would like to hand back over to the Italian.

[Operator Instructions] Apparently, there are no other questions from the Italian line. So we hand it over back to Ms. Lanzone to conclude.

Thank you. And I hand it over to Massimo for his conclusive remarks.

Well, I just want to say that I'm very satisfied, very happy with the first half figures, both in terms of commercial numbers, inflows, loans number, increased number of clients, increased number of Family Bankers and also results below the line. I really have to say they really went well.

Also, I have to say that our operating margin shows plus 20% compared to the first half of last year. So this is really a significant jump forward, accompanied by capital ratios and liquidity ratios that are really excellent.

Then we can conclude the first half 2026 results presentation. We'll meet again on November 10 for the results of the first 9 months of the year. So good afternoon, and happy holidays.

This is the end of the conference call. You can now disconnect. Thank you.

[Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Banca Mediolanum Q1 2026 Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

I would now like to hand the conference over to Alessandra Lanzone, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, madam.

Thank you. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Banca Mediolanum's conference call. Thanks for joining us today. We are only at the beginning of the year, but Q1 offers already a meaningful first read on a very active start to 2026. The strength of our business, the drivers behind the numbers and the trends of our performance.

For the Q&A session at the end, please ask in the language of the line. As usual, we respond in Italian, but with translation -- simultaneous translation into English available.

With that, I'm pleased to hand this over to our CEO, Massimo Doris, joined by our CFO, Angelo Lietti. Massimo, over to you.

Thank you, Alessandra. A very good afternoon to all of you. We started 2026 in a context that was already complex, shaped by geopolitics, shifting rates expectations and policy developments. As the quarter progressed, market volatility increased, particularly from March onwards. But the broader point is that volatility is no longer an exception, it has become part of the baseline we operate in.

In this environment, the key question is not whether uncertainty is present, but how customers respond to it. So far, the evidence is clear. Despite market volatility, we are not seeing our customers stepping back from the market. Flows continue and customers remain engaged, more selective perhaps, but still participating. This is an important signal. It confirms a pattern we have seen repeatedly and consistently over time, not by chance, but by design. It is part of our trademark. In more uncertain phases, our model tends to show its strength. When customers need guidance, the value of advice becomes more visible and the difference between a transactional approach and a relationship-based model becomes clearer.

At the same time, the market's focus is evolving. The debate is moving away from rates alone and toward the quality of flows, the mix between managed and administered assets and the sustainability of NII as the rate environment adjusts. So the question we are addressing today is not simply how the quarter looks, but what it tells us about the consistency and quality of our growth going forward.

With that in mind, let's move into the numbers. I'll begin with the economic and financial highlights on Slide 4. The headline news is that we started 2026 exactly as we ended 2025 with strong momentum across the board. Let me walk you through the numbers that matter most in Slide #4. And I think you'll see why we are generally excited about this quarter. I'll start with the bottom line.

Net income in the first quarter came in at EUR 276 million, up 13% year-on-year. The point is the underlying quality of the growth, which is coming for the -- from the core business, while nonrecurring items moved in the opposite direction. In fact, core revenues were notably strong. Contribution margin reached EUR 582 million, up 18% and operating margin, perhaps the most telling figure, came in at EUR 350 million, improving 25% versus the prior year.

This quarter offered a particularly clear example of the operating leverage now built into our model with revenues growing materially faster than costs. Of course, a favorable NII comparison certainly helped, but it was also the result of the discipline we have been building over time. Results were supported by net commission income growth, up 12% to EUR 354 million, helped by solid management fees, the recurring backbone of our business model, up 9%. This increase in management fees needs to be read in context.

The market correction in March had a visible impact on our managed assets given their significant equity component, even though net inflows remain very strong. At the same time, the strength of January and February, both in terms of inflows and market appreciation, allowed recurring fees for the quarter to remain broadly in line with Q4. At the end of the day, this tells us the quality of inflows is strong. Our customers keep choosing managed products.

Net commission income growth was also boosted by banking service fees, which contributed substantially, surging 66%, as we'll touch on later. Net interest income stands out as the strongest swing, but this is not a rate did the work quarter. NII came in at EUR 236 million, up 31% despite a markedly different rate environment. What supported the increase was a stronger starting base. We had deliberately shifted our funding mix towards deposits, which we couldn't do without our consistent ability to attract them. And this gave us access to a cheaper and more durable funding base. Don't forget that we also benefited from a lower retail cost of funding.

In Q1 last year, the cost base was affected by the combined impact of 2 high-volume time deposit promo offers, both carrying a relatively high rate, one at 5% launched in autumn '24 and one at 4% at the beginning of '25. This year, by contrast, the 2 campaigns impacting Q1 were both priced at 3%, making our funding cost much lighter. The expansion of the credit book in previous periods did the rest.

Our NII growth is driven less by rates themselves and more by the structural work we manage on the balance sheet, including our decision to front-load part of the government bond portfolio during the quarter. And keep in mind that the interest rate increase that was implemented in the quarter will only start to be reflected in our numbers from Q2. This will lead us to revise our guidance for the year based on updated assumptions as we'll see later.

Finally, nonrecurring items were down 42% from EUR 51 million to EUR 29 million. In Q1 last year, this line item benefited from a higher contribution from performance fees generated by our Italy-based funds as well as from the positive fair value impact of our trading portfolio. This quarter, the contribution from performance fees was more limited, while fair value had a negative impact.

A quick word now on the ratios. The cost/income ratio dropped to 34.8% from 37.6% of the full year 2025. And this was helped by the usual Q1 seasonality in G&A costs, which tend to be lower together with strong business momentum. Importantly, this was achieved while continuing to invest where it truly matters for the future of the business in digital capabilities, in the effectiveness of our network and the overall quality of the customer experience without compromising cost discipline. The ratio of acquisition costs over gross commission picked up slightly to 35.2% from 34.8% for the entire 2025, driven mainly by a timing mismatch between contest-related costs and revenues.

Finally, on credit. Cost of risk remained contained at 19 basis points for the quarter, in line with our expectations. Overall, this quarter confirmed that the engine we have been building continues to deliver and that our growth is structural, not cyclical. We are in a very good place.

Slide 8 gives a closer look at the remaining income statement lines with a few points worth highlighting. Banking service fees is certainly the standout figure, jumping to EUR 80.5 million, up 66%. This growth was driven by particularly strong certificate sales, almost 3x higher than in Q1 last year, which were also helped by the strong market backdrop. Many out of callable certificates reached their trigger levels earlier than expected and were redeemed ahead of schedule.

Customers received attractive coupons and offer reinvested the proceeds into new certificates, generating additional upfront fees. On top of this, there was also a positive price effect, thanks to a longer average maturity profile of the new issuances. Impairment on loans show a sharp percentage increase from EUR 1.4 million to EUR 6.6 million, which, however, is within the range of the previous quarters. It is worth remembering that Q1 '25 was particularly low, partly because we benefited from the adoption of a new model for calculating expected losses on retail exposures.

Turning to Slide 5. Let me walk you through the business results for the quarter. Commercial activity remained robust with total net inflows at EUR 3.34 billion despite being down 11% against a very strong comparison base last year. In particular, managed asset inflows were positive at EUR 1.87 billion, only a mid-single digit below last year's record level, which we see as a very resilient outcome given the different market backdrop. Last year benefited from exceptionally supportive conditions from the outset, while this year was marked by volatility much earlier on. Even so, the quality of our inflows remained strong, even more so in March, showing that our customers continue to invest and put money to work rather than simply stay on the sidelines, even as uncertainty increased during the quarter. The same positive trend continued into April.

As shown on Slide 34, net inflows into managed assets reached EUR 831 million in the month, while total net inflows came in at almost EUR 1.3 billion. This brings the first 4 months of the year to a very strong level with EUR 2.7 billion into managed asset flows. The year-on-year comparison is clearly demanding as April 2025 was our best month ever, but the absolute level inflows remain very solid and confirms the continued strength of our commercial activity. The impact on the market downturn on assets in Q1 was naturally quite visible for us, reflecting the higher equity content of our customers' portfolios compared with the industry average.

Total assets ended March at EUR 154.37 billion, 1% lower than at the start of the year, with the gap already recovered by the end of April. To the contrary, the credit book expanded and expanded, ending the quarter 1.4% higher than at year-end at EUR 19.25 billion. Credit book growth was supported by higher loan originations with loans granted up 12% year-on-year and lending just shy of EUR 1 billion for the period.

General insurance also had a good quarter with gross premiums up 14% to EUR 60.47 million. For us, this is not just an add-on business, it is part of how we help customers protect their wealth and earning capacity. Growth came particularly from stand-alone policies up 16%.

On Slide 6, you can see another strong quarter in terms of customer growth. We added almost 60,000 new customers, taking the total close to 2.1 million and lifting the customer base by 2% from year-end. Our group family banker network kept step with this growth, also up 2%, putting us within touching the distance of 7,000 family bankers, a milestone we actually reached in April.

Our intelligent investment strategy continues to gain traction. We now have over EUR 5.5 billion invested in money market funds with a planned and gradual switch into equities over an average horizon of some 3.5 years. Since the beginning of the year, around EUR 500 million of new money has been added to the service, bringing the total up around 10% and reinforcing the pipeline of assets that will progressively move into equity solutions over time.

In addition, we can see a further EUR 3.4 billion set to move into mutual funds over the next 12 months, as shown in the last 2 lines of Slide 6. This includes well over EUR 1 billion from Double Chance deposits, up 27% since the beginning of the year and more than EUR 2.3 billion from installment plan flows, which continue to build progressively and provide good visibility on future managed asset inflows. The rapid buildup in double chance deposits was not coincidence.

When geopolitical tensions triggered a sharp increase in market volatility at the beginning of March, we put Double Chance back in the spotlight, refocusing customers with available liquidity on a solution that was perfectly suited to that moment. In fact, this offers a way to take advantage of a particularly uncertain phase through a gradual entry mechanism while adding to the pool of assets set to move into equity funds over the coming months.

Let's move on to another key pillar of our model, balance sheet ratios, as shown on Slide 7. Our CET1 ratio remained extremely robust at 22.8% without including the contribution from the period's earnings. The MREL TREA ratio increased versus year-end as it reflects the EUR 500 million bond issued in January compared with a EUR 300 million bond included in the year-end figure. The leverage ratio was slightly lower than at year-end, moving from 9.5% to 8.3%, mainly reflecting the temporary increase in overall balance sheet exposures.

Let's take a moment to focus on our network in Italy, which now stands at 5,294 family bankers at the end of March. The start of 2026 was particularly strong. We saw an 87% increase in the number of professionals choosing Banca Mediolanum, with 176 new financial advisers entering the network in the first quarter alone. Of these, 117 were senior profiles and 59 were junior advisers, namely the banker consultants from our NEXT program. Women represented around 26% of total new recruits.

The senior profiles are especially worth mentioning. Almost half of them came from the banking and insurance sector, where they had worked as private bankers, relationship managers or branch managers. This confirms a trend we have been seeing for some time. Experienced professionals are increasingly looking beyond the traditional banking model and moving toward an advisory model that gives them more room to build long-term customer relationships. And this is where our positioning makes difference.

Banca Mediolanum is not a bank that simply has a network of advisers, it is a model built around family bankers. The structure, the tools, the training and the product platform are all designed to help them support individuals and families across their financial lives. That is why the network remains not only a growth engine for the group but also an increasingly attractive destination for high-quality professionals.

At the same time, our banking consultant program continues to be one of the most important ways in which we invest in the future of the network. It is designed for high-caliber graduates who begin with a 6-month executive master at our corporate university, obtain their financial adviser certification and then start their professional journey alongside a senior private banker or wealth adviser, working with that adviser's existing customer base. This gives them early exposure to real customer relationships, but within a structured and high qualified environment where they can build experience, credibility and seniority alongside an established professional.

What makes our program distinctive is precisely this combination of structured training and early field experience with a strong mentoring component. Their remuneration is covered by the senior banker, reinforcing the mentoring relationship and supporting the young professionals development within the network.

The figures on Slide 37 show how successful the project has become. At the end of April, 676 banker consultants were already active in the network with a further 250 currently in training. On the back of this pipeline, we now expect to exceed 900 banker consultants by the end of 2026. We are now seeing clear evidence of the impact of this strategic initiative.

Among the 830 senior bankers involved, those who have worked with a banking consultant for at least 12 months have recorded a material increase in productivity. They were already ahead of their peers at the starting point, and that lead has widened further. The advantage is particularly visible in managed asset inflows, where it has widened from 3% to 33%. In other words, it is now 11x the initial level. The gap has also increased in loans from 27% to plus 39%, equivalent to a 12 percentage point increase and has more than doubled in both protection policies from 28% to 60% and customer acquisition from plus 40% to plus 81%. The trend is positive and the pace is improving. Our network is becoming increasingly solid, while productivity still offers further upside.

Now let's turn to Spain on Slide 31. Q1 showed a slightly different picture versus year-end. The economics were stronger with the scale we have been building starting to come through more clearly in the P&L. At the same time, commercial activity normalized from the exceptional pace we saw last year, mainly reflecting the more volatile context and more cautious investor behavior. The improved results we saw in Q1 confirm that the platform is gaining substance and the investments made over the past quarters have created a broader and stronger base for future growth. Spain, in fact, remains a very exciting growth opportunity for us with significant room to scale further.

Let's look at the main highlights. Operating margin reached EUR 16.3 million, a 4% increase year-on-year, while net income stood at EUR 15.3 million, 8% higher. Total assets were broadly stable with only a marginal increase versus year-end to just over EUR 15.5 billion, with managed assets in line at EUR 11.9 billion. Total net inflows in the period were positive at EUR 590 million, while managed asset flows came to EUR 380 million.

Turning to lending. The credit book continued to grow, reaching EUR 1.84 billion, up 5% versus year-end. Meanwhile, the family banker network grew by 1%, reaching a total of 1,670. The key point here is the step-up in productivity over the past 5 years, mirroring what we've delivered in Italy. Average assets rose from EUR 5.5 million in 2020 to EUR 9.4 million today.

Finally, our customer base in Spain expanded to 292,200, marking a 2% increase versus the end of the year. Let me also give you a brief update on our grand patrimoni program. The key initiative we are driving to strengthen our position at the top end of the market as illustrated in Slide #73. As you know, the program was launched to raise the service standard for customers with more than EUR 2 million in assets, offering a high-end advisory service designed to address complex needs through a strategic, personalized and long-term approach. It combines fee-based advisory models, a dedicated product set, tailored investment banking and fiduciary services and an enhanced coverage model through wealth adviser teams.

The important point is that the program is now moving from launch phase to execution, and we are already seeing good traction. In the end of April, we had over 4,200 customers in the over EUR 2 million segment, up 6% versus year-end and 28% above the program's initial baseline at the beginning of 2025. Total assets in this segment reached approximately EUR 20 billion, up 5% despite the market volatility seen during the quarter and 27% above the starting level of the program.

What matters here is not only the growth in the number of high net worth customers, but the quality of the relationship we are building with them, more tailored advisory, greater use of specialized expertise and a clear opportunity to increase our share of wallet at the top end of the market. This is an area where our brand, our strongest private bankers and the enhanced coverage model can make a real difference, and we will continue to scale it during the year.

Finally, we are accelerating in the development of our AI program, not as a stand-alone technology initiative but as a practical enabler of our business model. The focus is threefold: improving operational efficiency, equipping our family bankers with better tools to serve customers and developing end-user solutions that make the customer experience simpler, faster and more personalized. To date, we have around 100 initiatives currently in the testing phase, 13 projects already released and more than 1,800 active AI agents.

Well, to wrap up, Q1 was a strong and reassuring start of the year. It was not a quiet quarter. Markets became more volatile, uncertainty increased and the comparison base was demanding. The market environment changed quickly, but our direction did not. We continue to deliver across the main business lines to grow our customer base and our network and to make further progress on the strategic initiatives we have been building. So while we remain mindful of the external environment, the route is clear. The first quarter confirmed the resilience of our model and gives us further confidence that even in a more complex context, our objectives for the year remain well within reach.

With that in mind, let me now turn to our 2026 guidance and to the targets we are working towards. We expect net inflows into managed assets to be around EUR 9 billion, assuming normal market conditions. We now see net interest income up approximately 15% versus 2025. We are targeting a cost/income ratio of around 38%. We expect cost of risk to be around 20 bps, and we intend to increase dividend per share versus the EUR 0.80 base dividend. Q1 was a strong first step in that direction. Our job now is to keep executing with discipline and consistency because making progress looks steady is exactly what a resilient model is designed to do.

Thank you for your time. And as always, we appreciate your continued support.

Thank you, Massimo. And we can now open the Q&A session.

[Operator Instructions] First question from the line of Enrico Bolzoni, JPMorgan.

[Interpreted] Apologies, I was speaking English instead of Italian. So you have revised the NII guidance. What are the assumptions underpinning this NII in terms of rates and volumes. If I take the first quarter information, I end up with a result which is higher than 15%. Obviously, you are expecting increasing rates.

Second question, certificates, a very good result in the first quarter. What can we expect in the next few quarters in terms of maturities and also specifically with reference to Q2 maturities.

Third question, equity markets were volatile. So I guess the Double Chance strategies moved assets from fixed income to equities and vice versa. So what are we to expect in terms of margin evolution for the rest of the year?

[Interpreted] So NII, obviously, we cannot just extrapolate the first quarter's margin and multiply it by 3, by 4. So as I said earlier, this plus 31%, which we see is due to 2 factors mainly. First factor is an increase in volumes, and this is obviously something that hopefully will continue on steadily for the rest of the year because our banking book is in excess of EUR 19 billion. So it keeps growing. On the other side, we had a funding cost, which was lower.

With a specific reference to time deposits, the first quarter of 2025 was impacted by the promotional offer of Q4 2024 because it was a 6-month time deposit. So clients started opening up these time deposits in, say, September, October, and this ended up impacting 2025. And the promotional rate was 5% plus in 2025. We launched a new promotional offer at 4%. So the first quarter was impacted by both the 5% promotional rate offered in 2025 and the 4% promotional rate offered in 2024. In 2026, we were impacted by the 3% promotional rate offered in Q4 2025 and the 3% promotional rate offered in Q1 2026. So a simple average would point to a 1.5% difference in terms of retail funding cost. And since we actually managed to have as much as EUR 1 billion worth of new money, this was quite impactful.

Plus we have to add to this Double Chance offers because last year, rates declined. So we have seen lower offers in the first quarter and higher in the second. So these things had a certain impact. So this will not happen in the following quarters, plus NII remained strong. That is why what we expect is a plus 15% for NII. This is the guidance. But of course, we have to see what happens in terms of interest rates evolution. But this is our guidance. Plus, we decided to front-load some bonds that were bought by the treasury. These purchases impacted March -- happened in March and impacted the first quarter. So this is it.

As far as rates are concerned, Angelo, why don't you take the floor?

[Interpreted] Well, we expect rates to raise -- to increase in the second part of the year. But in the second half of the year compared to the first quarter, we expect a higher cost of funding. So we will not report the same absolute values that we have reported in the first quarters.

As far as certificates are concerned, EUR 800 million worth of certificates will expire between now and the end of the year, auto callable certificates included. So barring market crash, these are the maturities.

Sorry, I don't remember the last question. Can somebody help me? Of course. Yes. Question about margins. We reported EUR 0.5 billion ISS increase, so assets that were generated, thanks to our IFS strategy. Flows are still good. So if we look at mutual funds and units, we see that the lion's share in terms of inflows is either into fixed income market or money market instruments because there was a lot of volatility when the conflict broke out in the Middle East. So customers, they decided to invest in equities for the longer term, were persuaded by bankers to invest in equities via the intelligence strategy or via Double Chance.

If I use [ IS ], the starting point is money market whose management fees are 20 basis points. And this, of course, has an impact on margins because we have EUR 5.5 billion, and that would have a negative impact because the margin is extremely thin. But if we look what the market is doing, if we compare ourselves to the market and competitors, their inflows are definitely lower. Plus these assets are automatically transferred into equity markets. So clients cannot change their mind. This is an automated system, an automatic system. So the system would gradually invest in the equity market. So temporarily, we will report a thinner margin because of the money market rates. But it's a system that guarantees that the customer will remain extremely loyal to us and will continue investing because the customer will not be emotionally impacted by market swings. They will see good results by investing gradually, and they will continue investing with us.

Next question comes from Elena Perini, Intesa Sanpaolo.

[Interpreted] I actually have 3 questions for you. First of all, can you just provide a sort of outlook or guidance on NII for 2027? The second question refers to your performance fees. Can you tell us the performance fees you have accrued year-to-date, considering the pickup there has been in the last 40 days and the recovery of the markets in the last 40 days. And then the third question is a confirmation with respect to certificate maturities. I believe auto callable are included. So we might expect banking fees to remain fairly high also in the coming quarters.

[Interpreted] NII guidance for 2027, we expect it to be on the rise between 5% and 8%. Second question, possible performance fees that we might have included. We are checking it out. So maybe we can answer to the third question. Yes, on certificates. Now clearly, if markets will keep on performing this way, we are going to have quite a few auto callable certificates being triggered because, of course, maturity does not change with market performance.

[Interpreted] If I may, while we are waiting, I will -- I may ask another question. We haven't been talking about regulation that much as of late. Any news? Or are the issues always the same? And with respect to the issues on the table, are there any evolutions or changes?

[Interpreted] No, not really. No news on the front of regulations. We are actually hearing a little bit more on the savings investment union, whereas no -- nothing has been said about RIS.

Next question, Giovanni Razzoli, Deutsche Bank.

[Interpreted] Let me get back to Slide 6, please, where you showed the growth in the accumulation, decumulation products such as Double Chance. I mean this family of product is really extremely successful. You have achieved almost EUR 7 billion, EUR 8 billion, i.e., 6% of your total assets. So I believe that by year-end, that amount will be a lot higher.

But earlier, you said there is a 2 percentage point commission difference between these products and others. Currently, we have -- you have EUR 150 million worth of commissions embedded into those products that will continue on. Could this type of products be considered like a sort of an insurance policy that Mediolanum is using to protect itself when the market goes down? And also, the underlying funds are Irish funds that enjoy more favorable tax regime. Certificates, how many did you sell in the first quarter? How many are auto callables? And what are the associated commissions?

[Interpreted] Well, the insurance policy, as you refer -- as you said, is -- I like the term. It's an insurance policy that makes sure we receive a steady flow regardless of how markets are performing. And we are talking about almost EUR 9 billion, not EUR 7 billion or EUR 8 billion, EUR 9 billion. If you look at IIS, these are all money market funds that really don't have an interesting margin for us, and this will be switched to equity markets where we would have EUR 250 plus basis points plus performance fees. So the margin is a lot better.

As far as Double Chance is concerned, we go from deposits on which we pay an interest rate to customers. So we have no margin there, and we would shift the money to equity funds. We could use Double Chance for fixed income funds as well, but they represent a small percentage, I think as low as 20% only. So normally, we use Double Chance for equity markets.

As far as the accumulation or installment plan, there, we use banking account money. And actually, we do have a margin on banking account because banking accounts don't pay any interest to customers. So these bank deposits are increased when the clients' wages are deposited. But if they stay in the deposit, the customer may spend the money. Instead, if this money is shifted -- is switched into equities into other forms of investment, this would generate a good margin for us, but also a good return for customers because if customers don't have a good return, they will leave us. So we cannot just focus on margins. The bank must enjoy a certain advantage, but there must be an advantage that can be given to customers as well.

We always talk about the 3 Cs rule. Every time we issue -- or we design a new product or promote a commercial action, we always ask ourselves whether that product generates an advantage for the customer, yes or no. If it generates an advantage for the family banker, yes or not. And whether -- I'm sorry, it's not the 3 Cs, but the 3 yes. So -- and whether that generates an advantage for the bank. And of course, the advantage for the customer is the most important one.

As far as certificates are concerned, EUR 669 million were sold in the first quarter, EUR 335 million of which are auto callable. And as far as commissions go, normally certificates have a maturity of about 4 to 6 years and the average commission is 6.4%.

Getting back to what Elena Perini was saying earlier, potentially performance fees are worth about EUR 55 million on top of those that have already been posted. So EUR 35 million have already been booked and EUR 55 million are the potential performance fees.

There are no further questions from the Italian line. So let me hand it over to my colleague for the English line. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] We will now take first question from the line of Hubert Lam from Bank of America.

I just got one. Can you talk about your flows and how much of it is coming from third-party funds and possibly even ETFs compared to your own Mediolanum funds and you see a growing proportion of your flows coming from third-party going forward?

Just a second that we are just collecting all the information, and we have to make a distinction between MyLife and the other funds. Just bear with me, we're just -- I'm just waiting for answer. Well, just give me the total. Are there any other questions you wanted to ask to Mr. Doris while we are waiting?

No, not at the moment. So yes, I got one other question, don't mind. It's on the cost/income ratio. I know that you're still targeting around 38% for the year, but Q1 was better than that, I think it's closer to 35%. Just wondering why you think 38% is still the target for the year when you've done better so far this year.

[Interpreted] Right. Because in the first quarter, generally, costs are slightly lower, and then they tend to increase over time in the remainder of the year. This is why we don't believe it is possible to keep the same cost/income ratio as the first quarter. And we saw -- we said approximately 38%. It could be slightly above or slightly lower, but it's a matter of the seasonality of costs. In April, EUR 350 million net inflows in third-party funds. So EUR 350 million out of EUR 2.275 billion. This is the inflows in funds and unit-linked funds in the first 3 months or 4 months rather. Consider that part of the EUR 350 million I was mentioning, most of it generally ends up in the MyLife -- no, sorry, these are sold or distributed directly. So it's EUR 350 million out of EUR 2.275 billion.

Thank you, Hubert. Sorry, he asked about ETFs as well, actually. Actually, there's very, very little in ETFs. ETFs that are bottom spot are the ETFs that our clients buy directly on our trading online platform. So there is only a brokerage fee, and that's it. The advanced advisory program has just been launched. So in this case, if within the asset allocation, the family banker includes securities or ETFs, then we charge an advisory fee, an additional advisory fee. So this means that you don't just have the transaction fee in terms of revenue, but also the advisory fee. But we just launched it. We're talking about mere 40 contracts. So we still don't have a volume or enough volume to make any kind of statistics that can make any sense.

So we have to wait for the end of the year, waiting for these contracts to pile up and reach a meaningful number so as to get an idea of the possible inflows coming from this advanced advisory program that is going then to flow into assets under administration and how much of this -- that is going to be advised is going to be in securities or in ETFs. And at that point, we will understand the fee that is going to be applied because depending on the size of the client and the discount that can be granted by the banker, we have a very wide range.

Thank you, Hubert. Any other questions from the English line?

There are no further questions on the English line. I would like to hand back over to the Italian.

Next question, Adele Palama, UBS.

[Interpreted] I have 2 questions. One is the AUM guidance. You talked about AUM flows of EUR 9 billion, in line with what you reported for 2025. But actually, if I annualize what you have reported up to NII as AUM flows, that's not the number that comes up. Do you expect inflows to accelerate in the second part of the year? And I imagine that this is tied to Double Chance and IAS strategies.

Second question is on NII. You said that in the second part of the year, you expect the cost of funding to increase. The assumption is based on an increase in interest rate, as I said, in the second half. How many promos do you expect to launch in 2026? And again, as far as NII is concerned, but actually, what I'm referring to is the retail books gross yield. In the third and fourth quarter of 2025, the gross interest yield of the retail book has increased by 16 basis points, and then it remained flat or stable in the -- between the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. Can you give me some color with respect to this aspect? And how do you expect this yield to move over the year? Would you expect it to remain stable? Or do you think it's going to increase depending on the interest rates? And is there anything impacting this yield in particular?

[Interpreted] So let's start with the EUR 9 billion worth of inflows. If we multiply it by 3, the EUR 9 billion in the 4 months, you don't get to that amount. But why do we expect to get to this number? Because we are going to launch products and contests that we believe are going to provide a momentum to inflows to really support inflows. So as of the end of May and June, we expect to report an increase in the inflows of assets under management.

Thanks to these initiatives, we believe that we are going to have an increase in the cost of funding in the second quarter. This is why we don't believe that NII is going to increase by 31% as it was the case in -- I'm sorry, [ 2% to 31% ] as it was the case in the first quarter. So there is going to be a peak in the second quarter. And then it's going to stabilize in the third and fourth quarter.

And then as to the investment yield, whether they are mortgages or treasury securities, mortgages are tied to the 3-month Euribor. So as of the 1st of April, we had an increase in the Euribor. So almost all mortgages are floating rate mortgages and are tied to the 3-month Euribor rate. So for 3 months, they will be based upon the Euribor rate at the end of March. And then they are going to be based on the Euribor rate of the end of June and so on and so forth. So depending on the level of the rate, we are going to generate a certain revenue.

Then with respect to treasury notes, floating rates are tied to the 6-month Euribor, only 32% because 67% are fixed rate. So there they are, and it's fixed. But 1/3 of these securities are tied to the 6-month Euribor rate. And you were asking about promos. We are now going to launch a contest in order to support inflows into managed assets, and we're going to talk about this during our convention to our bankers.

And then in the last 4, 5 years, we generally launched 2 promos per year, granting interest rates on 6-month deposits. We did the last one with the latest one was in October. And then as it was the case in the last few years, we're going to launch other promos. Here, you see the various offers. You see first quarter and third quarter 2023, first quarter and third quarter 2024 and so on and so forth with the various rates offered and the inflows that were -- that went into these 6-month deposits and the number of customers who invested in these deposits. They are rather new clients or existing customers that deposited more money.

And then in the last column, which is most important, because the objective of these time deposits is to turn most of that money into managed assets. And our target is to turn at least 70% of time deposits into managed assets. And you see that all of them basically hit the target. Of course, the promo launched in the third quarter of 2025, the first start to come due right now -- I mean, lately, recently. And already 50% of time deposits have been turned into managed assets. And of course, the deposits that were -- the promo that was launched in the first quarter 2026, money is still sitting on the time deposits. And only as of July, the money deposit on the time deposits is going to be turned into managed assets.

Fine. Thank you, Ale. Are there any other questions? No, this is a closing of our Q&A session. Let me hand it over to Mrs. Lamone. Thank you. Massimo, do you want to make a final comment on our results?

[Interpreted] Yes. Considering what went on in markets, I am very happy with our results in terms of inflows, and I'm sure that based on what we will present at the convention, inflows will accelerate even more. Also, I'm very happy with customer acquisition, 60,000 new customers were acquired. And I am very happy with the new recruits. The network is really growing. So customer acquisition, you make an offer at 3%, 4% or 5% promotional offer, and you have an immediate response by customers.

But when you try and want to make a change of step in recruiting new financial advisers, things don't move that fast. It takes time. You put in place an action, you do something, you implement an initiative, but it takes time before new financial consultants can be hired. So we started increasing recruiting. And now I think we have accelerated even more, and this really makes me very happy.

Finally, I'd like to say that considering that we reported a plus 13% in net income, even though we reported EUR 20 million less in terms of nonrecurring items, and in fact, the operational margin is up 25%. So I'm really, really happy with our business performance.

Thank you very much. Have a lovely evening. I know your day was really filled with lots of events and calls. We'll meet again on July 30 for the first half results. Thank you so much.

This is the end of the conference. Thank you for attending. You can disconnect now.

[Portions of this transcript that are marked [Interpreted] were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Banca Mediolanum Full Year 2025 Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to Alessandra Lanzone, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, madam.

Good morning -- good afternoon, actually, everyone, and thank you for joining us. We can certainly look back on 2025 as a year of strong momentum on our business and results that keep us very well positioned as we head into '26.

Today, we'll walk you through our full year performance, what has driven it and the priorities we're taking into the year ahead.

A quick note on Q&A. As usual, feel free to ask your questions in the language of the line you're calling from. We will answer in Italian with a real-time translation into English. With that, I'm pleased to hand this over to our CEO, Massimo Doris, joined by our CFO, Angelo Lietti. Massimo, over to you.

Thank you, Alessandra, and good afternoon to all of you. After a record 2024, the question was whether it was a one hit wonder? 2025 answered that question. This wasn't a one-off. We raised the bar and went one step further. The results speak for themselves, but they also speak to something deeper than numbers, the quality of our growth and the strength of a model that delivers consistently.

This trend translates into tangible value for our shareholders, and it is reflected in the strong dividend we are proposing for the year. But before we go into the figures, let me start with a quick word on the macro backdrop because it matters since it sets the context for what you're about to see.

In 2025, 3 forces continued to pull in different directions: rates moving into a normalization phase, markets shifting mood quickly and geopolitics remaining a generator of volatility through international tensions, trade policy and uncertainty around energy and supply chains. And a regulatory and fiscal backdrop that keeps evolving, especially in Europe and discipline becomes the differentiator.

Within that noise, there were also tailwinds. As rates began to ease and markets held up, households started looking beyond part liquidity again. And that's where the difference shows between a model that sells financial products and one that builds long-term relationships through advice. The real question we are going to -- into today is not how was 2025? That is now clear. But how repeatable is it in 2026?

The market is looking for visibility on 3 things: continuity of net inflows even if volatility returns, the trajectory of NII in a lower rate environment and continued discipline on costs, including the network component, which is exactly why our guidance -- our read on 2026 matter as much as the numbers we are about to present.

With that in mind, we'll be very clear today on what supported our 2025 performance. While we see a structural versus more context-driven and how we are positioning the business to keep growing with quality in 2026.

Let's move into the numbers. I'll start with the economic and financial highlights in Slide 4. The headline news is that 2025 was another best ever year for Banca Mediolanum, surpassing last year's record and reaching new peaks across virtually all key indicators. At the group level, net income came in at an outstanding EUR 1.238 billion, up 11% over the previous record level in 2024.

What matters most behind this bottom line number is not the one-off impact of tax refund nor the strong contribution from performance fees, but the same engine we've been building for years: customer relationships, smart solutions, sound and needs-based advice and a network that keeps converting engagement into long-term assets.

In fact, our core profitability was exceptionally strong. Contribution margin exceeded EUR 2.1 billion, and operating margin was just shy of EUR 1.2 billion, improving 10% versus the prior record. Results were supported by net commission income growth, up 12% to EUR 1.3 billion and a truly exceptional commercial performance, especially the quality of net inflows into managed assets.

We also managed the interest rate transition with discipline. Rates continue to normalize through the year and the tailwind to net interest income naturally softened. Even so, we protected profitability through mix and pricing actions to reduce the cost of funding by keeping the balance between growth initiatives and margin management.

For sure, recurring fees increasingly carried the weight. Higher average managed assets in the year and strong net inflows supported management fees, which went up 10% to over EUR 1.4 billion. In other words, the revenue mix did what it was supposed to do in a shifting rate environment, less reliance on NII, more support from recurring fee income linked to customer assets.

Below the revenue line, we stayed cost conscious, in line with our guidance of a cost-to-income ratio below 40%, while continuing to invest in the levers that matter, namely technology, network productivity, including NEXT and the customer experience, cost-to-income ratio resulted at 37.6%.

Slide 8 provides more detail on the other income statement lines. Let me flag a few highlights. Banking service fees climbed 38% to nearly EUR 259 million, driven by strong certificate sales, solid in Q2 and even stronger in Q4. As you know, certificate fees are recognized upfront in the P&L. Net income on other investments was around EUR 22 million, down 35% year-on-year, entirely explained by the different perimeter.

We sold our Mediobanca stake in July, so dividend income was limited to Q2. From the second half award, that contribution is simply no longer part of the run rate. Provisions for risks and charges increased by 21%, reflecting the same dynamic we saw in H1. As for risk provisions, last year's favorable legal outcomes led to one-off partial releases that did not recur this year. And for network indemnities, the increase remains volume driven.

Higher commissions naturally require higher provisioning. Provisions also increased because we started to build the reserves for the growing Prexta unsecured lending business. It's a prudent forward-looking approach in line with expected loss models as volumes grow. Contributions to banking and insurance industries were down 36% year-on-year, as banking sector contributions did not recur this year.

The only notable movement came in Q4, driven by a one-off supplementary extraordinary levy from the banking scheme. Below the operating margin, market effects were definitely positive, thanks to favorable market performance and effective investment management in 2025. The contribution of performance fees for the year was considerable, although 32% lower than in 2024 to the tune of EUR 257 million gross, boosting our bottom line.

Remember that performance fees for us are a bonus, not a pillar. They are certainly welcome when they come, but never something we rely on or plan for. Of course, it's the health and consistency of the underlying business that matters. Fair value improved significantly to EUR 28 million from EUR 17 million last year. We fully disposed of our stake in Next in Q2, resulting in a substantial uplift compared with the negative mark-to-market recorded last year. We also saw a positive contribution from treasury trading.

Now let's look at extraordinary items. Following a specific ruling by the European Court of Justice last August, we received a refund of EUR 140 million relating to IRAP regional tax we overpaid for the years 2012 to 2024. For completeness, the same ruling also brings a benefit on the tax line, around EUR 17 million of lower IRAP in 2025. Although this benefit is expected to be largely offset in the coming years as IRAP increases.

One important clarification on this line, the EUR 140 million refund is partially offset by the financial effects of the required advanced payment of the stamp duty on unit-linked policies as well as by the commissions related to the Mediobanca sale, but especially by a one-off recognition bonus we have decided to award across the group for a total impact of nearly EUR 23 million. I'll come back to the rationale behind this in a bit.

Taken together, the nonrecurring items in our P&L were broadly in line with last year, around 4% higher, and this doesn't change the overall picture.

Now let's launch into an overview of the business results for the year. Turning to Slide 5. Commercial momentum score new all-time highs across the all-net inflows metrics versus an already very strong 2024, accelerating in the last quarter and taking total net inflows up 11% to EUR 11.64 billion. These results were fueled by the success of our time deposit campaigns, where flows were supported by both new and existing customers, confirming the reach of our marketing and acquisitions engines.

If there is one number to call out, it's managed assets. Flows reached EUR 9.06 billion beating our 2024 record by 18% and ahead of our guidance of EUR 8 billion to EUR 8.5 billion. And this is the most meaningful mix for us because it reinforces the quality and durability of our revenue base and supports predictable earnings over time. So driven by these inflows and deposit growth, total assets ended 2025 at EUR 155.8 billion, increasing 12% year-on-year.

Keep in mind that positive market performance overall more than offset the weaker U.S. dollar. The credit book also expanded, ending the year just shy of EUR 19 billion, while asset quality stays strong with a cost of risk of 16 bps. The growth of the credit book was supported by higher loan origination with loans granted increasing 28% year-on-year to a total of nearly EUR 4 billion.

General Insurance also delivered a strong uplift. Gross premiums rose 20% to EUR 246 million, protecting customers' wealth and earning capacity remains a core priority for us. Growth was supported by stand-alone policies and even more by the renewed momentum of loan protection cover, consistent with the expansion in mortgages.

Turning to Slide 6. Our customer franchise continued to grow strongly. We ended 2025 with well over 2 million customers, expanding the base by 6% year-on-year after acquiring 199,500 new customers. Our group family banker network kept step with this growth, also up 6% to 6,798. Intelligent investment strategy has gathered real momentum. Over EUR 5 billion is currently in money market funds with a planned gradual switch into equities over an average 3.5-year horizon.

Since the beginning of the year, some EUR 2.2 billion of new money has been invested through this strategy, taking the total up by an impressive 76%. In addition, close to EUR 3 billion is in the pipeline to move into mutual funds over the next 12 months, as highlighted in the last 2 lines of Slide 6, including EUR 840 million from double chance deposits and more than EUR 2.1 billion from installment plans flows, which are building progressively.

Our model continues to do what it was designed to do, make it easy for customers to invest regularly while giving the bank a more predictable flow of fee income and a more resilient revenue base.

Let's move on to another key pillar of our model. Balance sheet ratios shown on Slide 7. It's a picture of strength and discipline and of continued value delivered to shareholders. Capital and liquidity remain strong and comfortably above requirements, and we further broadened and diversified our funding profile, while keeping our risk stance unchanged.

Starting with profitability. ROE came in at a best-in-class 29.1%, a clear proof point of our model at work. Our CET1 ratio remained extremely robust at 23%, even after our solid shareholder distribution. In fact, at the shareholder meeting, we will propose a EUR 1.25 dividend per share, increasing 25% versus 2024. Having already paid an interim dividend of EUR 0.60 in November, this leaves a balance of EUR 0.65 to be paid in April.

Let me be super clear. The EUR 1.25 we are now proposing is entirely an ordinary dividend. It comprises a base dividend of EUR 0.80 per share and an additional EUR 0.45 attributable to the exceptional contribution from nonrecurring items as well as the one-off benefit from the Mediobanca sale we executed in July.

But value creation for us is not only about shareholders, it is also about the people who make these results possible every day. So alongside the shareholder distribution, every employee and every family banker across the group around 11,000 people, we received a EUR 2,000 bonus, a simple concrete way to say thank you for an outstanding year.

Let's take a moment to focus on our family banker network in Italy that reached 5,148 financial advisers at the end of 2025. During the year, on top of the many new colleagues who have joined us with strong background as branch managers or customer relationship managers in other sectors, we also welcome a strong pool of young talent through the project NEXT.

As you all know by now, our banking consultants are high caliber graduates. They start with a 6-month executive master at our Corporate University, earn the FAA certification and then move straight into the field, working alongside a senior private banker or wealth adviser, with their remuneration totally covered by the senior.

The numbers in Slide 37, reflect the success of the project. At year-end, 590 banker consultants were already active in the network, with an additional 213 currently in training. We expect to overcome 800 by the end of 2026. This strategic initiative is already delivering. Among the 726 senior bankers who have worked with a banker consultant for at least 12 months, productivity has increased materially. They were already ahead of their peers and the lead has widened further.

The advantage in managed asset inflows has increased more than ninefold from 4% to 37%. It's up around 1.3x in loans from 31% increase compared to their peers to 40% and up close to 1.8x, both in protection policies from 32% to plus 57%; and in customer acquisitions, from plus 46% to plus 81%. The trajectory is encouraging, and it's getting stronger. The network is accelerating, and we see further upside in productivity.

With that in mind, let's turn to Slide 30. It tracks 5 years of productivity for the top tier of our network. 1,074 private bankers and wealth advisers measured by average assets per banker. As Slide 30 shows, average asset per banker stand at EUR 64.2 million, almost twice the industry average of EUR 34 million. And the gap has stood still. It has widened year after year not by accident.

It reflects the investment and discipline we've put into upgrading our network quality and the stronger recurring revenues per banker that follow. This is an edge we build, and we see it continuing to improve.

Now let's turn our attention to Spain by commenting on Slide #32. As we've seen quarter after quarter, Spain's strong volume momentum gave us the confidence to commit to a meaningful step change in scale. This came with a higher cost base, mainly due to the expansion of our platform, increased activity across the country and additional marketing spend.

So the P&L impact reflects a deliberate investment to support growth and build long-term value. One important dynamic to keep in mind: net interest income was down 18% year-on-year and at the current scale of our Spain operations, higher net commission income there couldn't fully close the gap. Keep in mind that stronger commercial momentum in managed assets translated into higher incentives for our network, a natural consequence of delivering more and better business.

On top of this, performance fees were materially lower than last year. Operating margin reached EUR 56.4 million, reflecting a 26% decrease compared to 2024. And net income stood at EUR 57.7 million, 29% lower, mainly due to the factors we just mentioned. As a clear sign of Spain's commercial momentum, total assets grew by 18% year-on-year approaching EUR 15.5 billion, with managed assets rising 23% to EUR 11.9 billion.

Indeed, Spain delivered another strong year on net inflows, EUR 1.95 billion, jumping 30%, but the real highlight is the quality behind the number. All of it came from managed assets, with flows up an impressive 35%. That's exactly the kind of growth we want to carry forward.

Turning to lending. The credit book continued to grow, reaching EUR 1.74 billion, up 17% versus 2024. Meanwhile, the number of family bankers hedged up by 2% to a total of 1,650. The key point here is the step-up in productivity over the past 5 years, mirroring what we've delivered in Italy. Average assets rose from EUR 5.5 million in 2020 to EUR 9.4 million today.

Finally, our customer base in Spain expanded to 285,760 marking a meaningful 12% increase versus the previous year.

Now I'd like to shift your attention to one initiative that deserves a quick spotlight. Because it's a priority, we are pushing hard. The strength of our brand, combined with the caliber of the top tier of our network, gives us a real advantage in serving the top end of the market. It allows us to focus with increasing confidence on a high wealth segment that is growing rapidly across the industry and expanding just as clearly within our own customer base, those with assets above EUR 2 million.

Over time, we've been steadily strengthening our position in this space from private banking customers with EUR 500,000 to EUR 2 million of investable assets to even more so high net worth customers above EUR 2 million. And as you may recall, a few months ago, we launched our Grandi Patrimoni program, introducing a new service model built to raise the service standard where it matters most, meaning customers above EUR 2 million.

In practical terms, it's built around 4 pillars: fee-based advisory models, the so-called enhanced advisory including fee over administered assets and fee-only solutions; a dedicated product set, spanning lending and wealth management; a tailored investment banking and fiduciary proposition alongside highly specialized wealth services; an enhanced coverage approach, including wealth adviser teams to bring broader expertise to customers.

This is how we intend to earn more share of wallet at the top end with a service model that matches the complexity of their needs. Even though the program only launched midyear, we've already seen encouraging results in 2025. The number of high-end customers with more than EUR 2 million assets grew by 20% versus the previous year, reaching close to 4,000, and they hold a total of EUR 19.4 billion in assets, up 22%. In 2026, we will keep building on this and further scale the model.

Well, to wrap up, 2025 was a year of extraordinary milestones for us. We faced challenges. We delivered and showed what excellence looks like. And we did it with the same engine we've been building for years, 45 years to be exact actually yesterday.

Looking ahead, it's important to be clear of what we are aiming for in 2026. Our 2026 guidance is as follows: We expect net inflows into managed assets to be around EUR 9 billion assuming normal market conditions. We see net interest income up approximately 10% versus 2025. We are targeting a cost-to-income ratio of around 38%. We expect cost of risk to be around 20 bps.

We intend to increase dividend per share versus the EUR 0.80 base dividend. The road map for the year is targeted and built around our main priorities: growth, productivity, durability and sharing the value we create. Our goal is to make it look routine even though it never is.

Thank you for your time. And as always, we appreciate your continued support. Alessandra, over to you.

Thank you, Massimo, and we can now open the Q&A section.

[Interpreted] [Operator Instructions] We'll now have the first question from Mr. Enrico Bolzoni JPMorgan.

[Interpreted] First question on banking fees. You had a very good print for the quarter. So I would like to understand whether you can give some more color. I believe this is due to the sale of certificates and what do you expect for the coming quarters? Maybe you can give us some color as to how they fared and they performed in January?

Second question it's on fee-on-top that is, so-called unbundled model. I was reading the Assoreti reports. And apparently, they are harvesting a lot of interest. If I calculate and examine your margins, net of the commissions that are going to be remitted to consultants, your margins are quite hefty above 1%. Do you think that in a world where advisory will be more and more based on the fee-on-top top model, will be able to retain these margins because basically, you will have 1%, 1.1%, 1.2% fee that will have to be added on it.

It seems rather high compared to a market like that in U.K. where commissions are already fee-only -- based on a fee-only model.

Right. As far as banking service fees are concerned, in 2025, markets have performed very well. And setting aside the certificate we sold in the past upon maturity, there were many calls as well, that is certificates had already met the targets and there, they were redeemed earlier. This -- I mean, certificate that had to last 4 to 5 years, lasted 1 year, reaping an excellent result for our clients, and therefore, clients reinvested in new certificates.

What can we expect for 2026?

It really depends on how markets will perform. If markets will keep rising, many certificates will be redeemed earlier and therefore, we are going to see reinvestments. If markets will instead remain flat or trend down, there will be no early redemptions, there are going to be the normal maturities and the normal operations and trades. But we don't have only certificates in this figure, we have [ monetics ], we have bank account fees. There are many, many items under this line item.

So if the markets are fair, well, we can expect this item to grow next year. If markets sort of slug around, probably this line item will remain flat. Other fees and commissions will increase and maybe fees and commissions generated by certificates remain flat or slightly dip. Having said this, if I don't sell certificates, I'm going to sell funds or unit-linked.

Yes, there's an impact on the P&L because the certificates are upfront, whereas the others are ongoing in terms of recognition. But what is important is to have managed assets. As far as the fee on top issue is concerned, this advisory model most likely is going to be rolled over on high net worth individuals, as we can see on the market.

On high net worth individuals already today, we obtained lower commissions because on high net worth individuals, we have a higher number of third-party funds, and therefore, this means a lower margin for Banca Mediolanum. Talk about my life policies, the unit-linked policies that then as an underlying have a number of own funds or third-party funds that family bankers can enter in the -- as an underlying.

A normal my life have safeguard and monitoring fee equal to 1.75%. If the investment is above EUR 1 million, the commission goes down to 1.25%. If it's more than EUR 5 million being invested, it goes down to 1%. And the mix and the underlying mix changes because we go from a higher percentage of own funds to a higher percentage of third-party funds, and therefore, margins change accordingly for us and for family bankers as a consequence.

So if we take the average sort of rule of thumb calculation, this commission payment model devoted to high net worth individuals is going to weigh on the commission average we receive. But we have to really take another view. If I don't introduce this type of commission model, I may lose some market share. So my margins will remain higher, but on a much lower asset volume, a much smaller asset volume.

Having said so, not only will we acquire top clients with lower margins, thanks to the Grandi Patrimoni program. But we will keep on acquiring upper mass and affluent clients who are going to invest in classical managed assets with the product we know. We will keep on working on both the fronts trying to constantly growing our masses, providing the right service at the right price to the different client segments.

The next question comes from the line of Luigi De Bellis, Equita SIM.

[Interpreted] The first is on the 2026 guidance on the managed asset -- well, net inflows into managed assets. What other volumes did you expect to have in the next 12 months and that will be turned into managed assets? And what is the trend in this January of net inflows into managed assets?

And then the NII growing about 10%. Can you remind us of the assumptions, Euribor assumptions, growth of value deposit and growth of the banking portfolio -- or sorry, the loan portfolio?

As to the first question, we have about EUR 3 million between installment -- EUR 3 billion between installment plans and double chance. And in the next 12 months, over 2026, they will go from deposits or bank accounts to managed assets. So we already have EUR 3 billion worth of gross managed inflows so to say, but EUR 3 billion, nonetheless.

And the IIS, we have EUR 5 billion in monetary funds that are tied in with the Intelligent Investment Strategy service are already part of the net managed inflow. So the shift of transfer of about EUR 1.5 billion with market markets being as they are now because, of course, if markets go down, there's a shift between money funds to equity funds.

So with things standing still, we would have EUR 1.5 billion going from money funds to equity-based funds. But from the point of view of managed assets, the impact is 0 because the money funds, the money market fund is already considered to be managed assets. So -- and we would go from 1 to 1.25 recurring fees. So that would be a very limited impact.

As to the NII, the Euribor assumptions, let me get it for you. The average Euribor assumption is 1.95 at a steady state, 3 months Euribor as well. And then why do we foresee assume growth volumes first and foremost, because we assume there will be growing volumes where the inflows that goes to bank accounts at 0 cost. And this 10% growth implies and includes 2 initiatives. One is ongoing already at 3% today. And the next initiative will be in the second half of this year with propositions where the cost of inflow will have -- of funding, sorry, the cost of funding will have a major impact.

So there should be an increase in volumes in bank accounts where we have 0 interest applied. And then, of course, there will be increase in volumes also in loans as well and mortgages. And then the cost of funding comparing 2026 to 2025. In 2026, we expect a lower cost of funding because in 2025, for instance, in the first half or first part of 2025, we had the offering on 6-month deposits that have been launched in September, October in Q4 2025, where we were granting 5%.

So in the first part of 2025, we paid 5% interest on time deposits, now we are paying 3% on time deposits. So -- and then it went down to 4%, et cetera. So low cost of funding, as I was saying, and higher volumes. That's our assumption to get to the plus 10% that we are assuming.

Next question comes from Alberto Villa, Intermonte SIM.

[Interpreted] Congratulations for your results. I really would like to talk about the competitive scenario. Yesterday, we heard the presentation of Intesa's presentation. This bank has been focusing for a long time on distribution and asset management, they're also trying to grow through Banca de territory, converting their distribution network also from this point of view.

So generally speaking, is this focus that all banks are showing on asset management, something that can somehow affect more specialized players as you rightly are? And do you believe that the growth opportunities will still remain significant considering that Intesa is quite aggressive also in terms of recruiting. Do you think that you might have a stronger churn rate in the future or are you quite carefree?

Back to the net interest income. Can you give an idea of volumes, a guidance with respect to volumes are concerned to concerning loans. Loans have been growing above average. Do you think that you still have a significant growth opportunity ahead from this point of view?

You're talking about loans alone? or are you talking about loans, mortgages, you mean the entire lending volume?

Yes, total figure.

Let me answer to your first question first regarding networks. Now first of all, large banks, creditor talked about this, Massimo said this as well. In Italy, they already have Fideuram. If I got it right it was really more focused on international banks. But really, this is not that important. But if everybody wants to develop their networks, it means they are working well and they have a future because otherwise, they would not be investing in their network development.

They probably acknowledge the fact that this trend is keeping up that is traditional banks based on [indiscernible] statistics. Traditional banks in 2010 had a market share of 72% with respect to Italian financial assets. Networks had 9% -- held a 9%. At the end of 2025, traditional bank went from 72% to 59% give or take and networks went from 9% to 21%.

The difference is made by Poste and insurance companies, Poste Italiane 14%; and insurance companies around 5%. So this constant trend from 72% to 59% decrease from traditional banks. And the increase from 9% to 21% by networks, the fact that traditional banks want to invest on networks is rather comprehensible. I said 14% for Poste, it's 15% and then we don't see the insurance companies, but it's 5%. So it's quite natural and -- that they want to invest.

What I'm worried about -- I mean, am I worried? Honestly, no, I'm not. It's not that I don't care or I don't pay attention. Of course, I do track what my peers do. They are managed by smart people, I'm not going to underestimate that. But I also take into consideration our capability of acquiring new clients of growing our network and managing our network.

We've been doing that for 44 years, as Banca Mediolanum. My father did that even before that for a longer time. So let me say we've been piling up quite a long experience. As far as loans are concerned, we believe that loans granted could increase by 5% and then you see the trend.

If I may ask a question. In the next 5 years, the percentages you illustrated, how may they change between banks and networks? Is there still room for growth?

Yes, I saw a projection where the movement is 1% per year. 1% shared by traditional banks and taken over by networks. But take into consideration that, that is the total figure in your -- when you ask your questions, you mentioned Intesa. Intesa is part of the 59.2%. The 1% they are going to shed -- also Intesa might shed a little bit of that 1% or maybe Intesa is going to grow that number, and that will be eroded from some other bank. But the same goes for networks as well. Some will lose and some will earn market shares.

Second thing is that these are percentages. But take a look at the bar chart below. These are Italian's financial assets that are on an upward trend. 59.2% out of 4,000 billion is more than 73% of 2,700. So in absolute terms, assets have increased with respect to inflows that have been reaped by banks. But the pie is getting larger. And, I mean, the mix changes, but the pie is growing.

The next question comes from the line of Elena Perini with Intesa Sanpaolo.

[Interpreted] As far as I'm concerned, I would like to ask the following. I have questions on admin expenses. You were heading for cost-to-income lending at 38%. But as far as year-on-year growth is concerned, I'm talking about costs, of course, what is your assumption?

And then the second question is on loans, you are granting and then you will be granting going forward for artificial intelligence, how does artificial intelligence come into play in your business proposition going forward? And then another question on your dividend. You always refer back to your base dividend, and this year, you stated it's EUR 0.80. I would say that right now, we're just thinking of a growth trend, taking this line item as a reference, considering your CET1 ratio, which is very, very sound, by the way, I think market expectations are for growth on this base dividend, a major or a material growth in your base dividend now and in the coming years.

I know that you want to be above 22% in your CET1 ratio. Could you elaborate on that? Well, capital and dividends?

[Interpreted] Well, as far as cost -- the cost income ratio is concerned, we gave around 38% as guidance. So that means well, general costs, overhead cost is 8% to 9%, should be around 8% to 9% higher. And please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm speaking to my coworkers, of course, as far as artificial intelligence is concerned, we are investing in it.

And we, too, of course, are. And we are doing so for our back office, for instance, in managing mortgages, for instance. When we look into the full documentation being provided for the granting of a mortgage, of course, you need people reading papers, documents, making sure all the documents are being provided. And sometimes, depending on what the document states, more information is requested.

So there are many people working on that and a lot of time being allotted to that process to, of course, process the individual sites. We are testing artificial intelligence for that. Just to give you an example, there are many of them. And time is really cut because artificial intelligence looks into documents much faster and with the level of accuracy which is quite high, by the way.

And right now, we are in a test phase because these documents are then also still edited and revised by people. But by year-end, I think it will be used most extensively, more extensively at least. We are using AI for that, and we are also using that in the tools that are made available to our family bankers because they have a huge amount of info that they have to process.

But of course, first and foremost, we have to retrieve info, be aware that the info is available and then use info in the correct way, use data in the right way. And there too, artificial intelligence can really help our family bankers not only to have data, more accurate data available in a faster way, but also to have and get suggestions and prompts from the system telling them you did this for this type of customer, why don't you do the same for this other cluster of customers that might need the same things.

And so we are investing heavily along those lines. Let me say, dividend -- base dividend. I am the first to hope, of course, as I'm a shareholder, there's conflict of interest they are telling me here. Other times, we have mentioned this. Elena, you mentioned that we have a CET1 that is very, very sound. And I'm confirming that.

But let me remind you that a bank has a lot of obligations. So it's not just CET1, that's the ratio we have to bear in mind. There are a number of other things that have to be taken into account. MREL ratio, for instance, the request made by the Single Resolution Board, and we are around 22% as far as the request from that regulator is concerned.

And then the capital bank holds is also has an impact on other ratios. It could be interest rate risk of a possible change or delta in the NII. CET1 -- focusing on CET1 alone may lead to drawing maybe the wrong conclusions. Having said that, the EUR 0.80 we are currently offering it's about EUR 600 million of distributed dividend or paid out dividend.

So when we suggest that going forward for next year, we're thinking of paying out slightly more than EUR 0.80, we always refer to a performance that does not include one-off effects if we consider performance fees and tax refunds, our profit was very close to EUR 1 billion so already paying out 60%, 70% of one's profit every year and still growing at a constant rate at a steady state with all the objectives and goals we have to grow and as your colleague said before with your question, also lending wise, we expect a 5% growth on stock and another 5% on the granted loans.

So we think we are providing the right information by taking into account all of these factors. And as the CEO said, if results, if the performance during the year, as we had last year, we had a base of EUR 0.75, and we distributed EUR 1, thanks to performance fees. And so we had one-offs to be taken into account also on the EUR 0.80 we're paying out now. So it's EUR 1.25 -- EUR 1.25 that we're paying out. We want to be sound in our positions when it comes to the capital ratios as well.

And let me remind you that in 2022, we had about EUR 0.50 of base dividends. And in 2023, we moved to EUR 0.70. So it was a major leap. And then we went from EUR 0.70 to EUR 0.80. Next year, what will it be? We'll see. Let's wait and see depending on how we perform over the year, and we'll make a decision on it, but it might be another good leap. It's according to me, it's useless to have a leap in our base dividend of another EUR 0.10 per share to then, of course, the following year and then go from EUR 0.80 to EUR 0.90, then the following year do EUR 0.91 because we are still getting very close to the limit, so to say.

So the base dividend according to us must be something where we are really confident we're not going back on the contrary that we can move forward upon. And as we said this year and for last year as well and a few years before, but let's say, let's focus on this year and last year. If there are special situations and the markets are helping us, and we get one-off revenues, so to say, we will pay them out, distribute them as we have done in the past.

We'll now take the next question from Mr. Giovanni Razzoli, Deutsche Bank.

[Interpreted] I have 3 questions. Can you give us an indication of the Grandi Patrimoni program scope? How many clients have already been included in this initiative?

In the third quarter, you talked about BTPs that were going to expire in 2025 in the second half of the year, and they would have been renewed at higher rates. Can you tell us how many BTPs are going to expire in 2026 and if you're going to have the same effect?

Last question, do you still have funds that are under the high watermark? And if you can give us a percentage because this would give us a greater visibility on performance fees considering the market performance.

[Interpreted] The current -- the customers that could be interested in Grandi Patrimoni are more or less 4,000 clients and it is more than 2 million invested with us right now. This is what we already have, but the objective is not so much that of asking these clients to invest even more, which we'll be willing to accept if they are investing also with other peers. But the main target is to acquire more clients. But we already have 4,000 potential clients.

As far as BTPs are concerned, in 2026, we have EUR 3.8 billion maturing, but BTP is only EUR 150 million. So the BTP maturity is really very limited, EUR 1.5 billion worth of CCTs and the rest is securities from other countries that were purchased. These are fixed rate securities that were purchased in previous years in terms of diversification.

[Interpreted] What is the yield of these maturing securities?

[Interpreted] The yield goes from 2.7% to 2.9%. This is more or less the yield from 2.7% to 2.9%. I'm talking about the bonds that are going to expire in 2026 because most of these government bonds were purchased a couple of years ago when we started to diversify between Italy and Europe.

So yields are still more or less the same. As to maturities and the renewal, once they mature, I believe that we will get close to these yields. There will -- we will see no true upgrade, but we'll maintain the yield, the return we get from these securities stable. As to funds, on December 31, we had 5 funds that were below the high watermark with a total NAV of EUR 4 billion.

Next question from the line, Gian Luca Ferrari with Mediobanca.

[Interpreted] I have 3 questions. The first one is about the backdrop. We read about -- we've seen that there are trends to transfer wealth from one generation to another, EUR 100 billion from now to 2023. Do you think your advisory will change its nature to follow that trend? Will you adjust that to keep up with the trend? And second question on the ETFs. There's a lot of impact of passive managers. Have you changed your approach? Or are you going to have ETFs with active management, active ETFs? Are you going to create your own?

And as another question, the introduction of value for money in your retail investment strategy bundle. Can you give us an update on that?

[Interpreted] As to the first question, well, generational shifts, there will be a change in generations indeed. But I don't think there'll be any radical changes, so to say, any deep-rooted changes. But savers will -- well, they will have to find a banker, a consultant that will speak the very same language. We have our next project. Project Next enables us to be very well positioned to keep up with that generation shift. By year-end, we expect to have 800 of these banker consultants. They are aged between 25 and 26 on average. And when they join the network, they are even 24, 25. Some of them have been in the network in the Next program for a few years now. So maybe they are older than 25 or 26. But out of the 600 we already have, they are not older than 26 years of age on average.

So if these are the people who will get in touch with the next generation, the sons and daughters of our own clients. So they will grow together. So we think this is one of the keys so that when money -- when the wealth goes from one generation to another, we are still -- we are already there with the client, and we already have a relationship with the person receiving the wealth and not starting the relationship at that very moment that is when they receive the wealth ETFs.

They are more and more used. Yes, that's true indeed. Let us remember that one thing is looking at figures or data in absolute terms and something totally different is looking at things from a relative perspective, looking at percentages rather than individual data. ETFs does not necessarily imply lower commissions or fees. ETFs are not sold directly, but they are -- indeed, we are also selling them directly. But normally, they are included in asset management products. As of last year, we have a line for wealth management that can be done exclusively in ETFs. Of course, it is devoted to our top-tier clients, but it's not -- we're not focusing on the margin that we would get by selling an ETF. It's much -- something much more material. Do I think there'll be more use? Yes, I think there'll be more use, but that won't mean that's the end of investment funds.

Are we going to create and issue our own ETFs? It's -- we're not planning it yet, but I'm not ruling it out. It's something that we are thinking about. We are focusing on if and when we'll do that remains to be seen, but it's not something we are ruling out as such. And as far as value for money, there are -- we started from MiFID I, then MiFID II and all the different interpretations of the different regulations that are being applied. Sometimes interpretations are different from country to country. They could be more or less restrictive. Sometimes, they start from ideas and concepts that may seem meaningful, but then in practice, they could not be, they cannot be applied.

Having said that, let me say that at the end of the day, if you provide a good service to your clients, and by service to one client, it's not just a matter of money, what they can earn with the service or we can earn with the service. Let me quote a survey we did quite a few years ago. We looked into customer satisfaction. And we tried to understand if customer satisfaction was more tied in with the actual performance of the investment or something else as well. And what we had realized and noticed is that the most satisfied customers were the ones that had a higher frequency of contact or being in touch with a family banker. If the market is not faring well, clients that have a high frequency in getting in touch with family bankers and are therefore aware of what is happening in the market. They've discussed -- they've looked into asset allocation and possible modifications of it. So the client is fully aware of what is happening. That equals a satisfied customers, say, growing markets, markets that are improving, that are -- but they're not seeing their family bankers.

There's a performance, but the client has no idea if something has to be changed in the portfolio, they have to sell, they have to buy something more. And that equals an unsatisfied or dissatisfied customer. And -- but this regulation or the trend only looks at returns, but there's a missing chunk that has to be taken into account, too. And I'm sure that if we work well with our clients, no matter or regardless what regulations impose or provide, they will not have an impact on the customer satisfaction because this regulation does not only apply to Banca Mediolanum, but to the full -- the entire market. And if we're going uphill, we're all going uphill. It's enough for you to run a little faster than the others and you're running first, even though you're being -- even though it's a slower run because of the market conditions.

The next question comes from Adele Palama Hama, UBS.

[Interpreted] I have 3 questions. First one on NII and the NII guidance, in particular, the lending stock increase. You talked about a 5% increase in loan stock being the assumption. If I actually make a calculation, the loan book increased by 8%. So the 5% refers to the retail loan book. And if so, why do you expect to have a lower growth rate than the one you reported this year? I don't know whether this is a matter of mix.

Then second question, again, has to do with NII. Can you clarify your customer interest income or loan yield. This quarter, it went up to 3.36% from 2.20%. How is it you had this increase in gross yield? Because the cost of funding declined with respect to deposit promotions, but I don't understand how you got to this yield increase quarter-on-quarter. Then guidance with respect to inflows how much more for maneuver do you have to improve from the EUR 9 billion amount that you reported? Because actually, there is an 8% compared to the initial stock compared to the one you reported this year, which was 9%.

[Interpreted] If you can show the chart with the bars -- I mean, the bar chart to make it simple. I will answer to the first question on NII guidance and loans. Between 2024 and 2025, we have reported a significant increase. That was actually an important leap because rates had gone down, and therefore, there was a higher demand. Rates are going to remain stable, most likely. So this jolt, if you want, if we take a look at the trend in -- I mean, if you compare 2023 to 2022, there is a EUR 0.5 billion increase. 2024 over 2023, again, EUR 0.5 billion, more or less EUR 600 million. 2025 compared to 2024, it increased by EUR 1.3 billion basically, EUR 1.4 billion almost. So there has been a strong acceleration that was driven by interest rate decline, which according to projections is not going to take place in 2026. Should they decline by 1%, we would see an even greater momentum, an even greater boost. But since interest rates are possibly are going to remain stable, growth is going to be standard. Really, 2025 was a sort of one-off because it was really pushed by interest rate performance.

[Interpreted] I was not clear. Granted loans of the year compared to the previous year increased by 10%. So you have to see the growth comparison in terms of granted loans. If the stock increases, also the repayment and the actual mass increases. So it's obvious that you will have this type of dynamic. I'm not saying that we are not going to see an increase in loans granted. It's going to be plus 10%. Loans granted '25 over '23 grew even more from EUR 3 billion, it went up to EUR 4 billion, driven by interest rates and it reflects on total amount. And then as far as NII is concerned, in the last quarter, Euribor on mortgages increased. And this is why we had this increase on -- referring to the spread. This is why we reported this increase.

[Interpreted] And then, of course, there is an additional effect clients entering -- taking mortgages with us can skip a certain number of payments at no cost. When interest rates were high, many clients decided to take advantage of this option, and they would skip and defer certain payments. If the client does not pay a given payment, we are not going to earn the interest, and this is an impact on NII. Since rates have stabilized, many clients opted in and especially in the last quarter, and this had a good positive impact on interest income for the bank.

And then EUR 9 billion in terms of managed assets, will it be possible to improve this? First of all, this was a blockbuster result. Can we do even better? Yes, if the market goes up 20%, most likely, we might even improve and exceed the EUR 9 billion, which I hope will be so. If the market were to remain flat, keeping the EUR 9 billion will be a hefty battle. If the market is going to go down 20%, we will never make it up to EUR 9 billion because it will be more difficult to retain the assets of our clients and to acquire new clients. This holds true not only for Banca Mediolanum, but for the market at large.

For example, on this slide, you see that in 2022, we reached more or less EUR 6 billion worth of net inflows in assets under management. 2025 was a difficult year because both fixed income and equity markets went down. All asset classes went down. And in 2023 -- sorry, I was talking about 2023 and not 2025. All clients were looking at their results, and they were reporting losses. So 2023 was a very, very tough year for the entire sector. I remember that back then, Assogestioni, when analyzing the retail market, they reported net outflows of EUR 22 billion.

If I remember correctly, Assoreti reported EUR 6 billion worth of net inflows, 5% of which were retail Banca Mediolanum. Now you saw 4 there. I talked about 3 because Assoreti does not include Spain on the one hand and then also because certain products such as certificates are being classified under different line items, not only for us, but for everybody. This means that we went from EUR 6 billion to EUR 4 billion because of the rough market, but those 4 accounted for half of the entire market inflows, plus EUR 4 billion net inflows compared to EUR 22 billion worth of outflows for the entire market. So was that a bad year? From my point of view, that was a great year because we have increased our market share quite a lot, even though we slowed down because it was really, really uphill. The slope was steep.

There are no more questions. Let me now turn the conference to the English channel.

[Operator Instructions] There are no questions on the English line at this time. I would like to hand back over to the Italian line.

We have no more questions in the Italian conference. Let me hand it over to Mrs. Lanzone for the closing of the conference call.

Thank you very much. I'd like to thank all of you for joining us.

[Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Banca Mediolanum 9 Month 2025 Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

I would now like to hand the conference over to Alessandra Lanzone, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, madam.

Hello, everyone. It's a pleasure to meet with you again. As you've seen with a strong third quarter behind us, our 9-month picture is in good shape. And today, we are going to take a closer look to our results. What's powering them and how we see the road ahead.

Just a quick note before we start. You're welcome to ask a question at the end of the presentation in the language of the line you're calling from. We will answer in Italian as usual, with a real-time English translation.

With that, I'm pleased to turn the floor to our CEO, Massimo Doris, who is joined by our CFO, Angelo Lietti. Massimo, over to you.

Thank you, Alessandra, and good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining us. Let's start with the context. 9 months in inflation in Europe returned to around 2%. Interest rates remain restrictive. Equity markets advanced unevenly, bond yields were volatile, currencies were choppy and geopolitics remained a persistent headwind. In this kind of environment, discipline matters and steady execution is rewarded, and that's where we stayed focused.

We plan for this noise and kept on doing the fundamentals as well, prioritizing our proven trademark levers over one-off moves or tactics. And this discipline came through in our 9-month number. From earnings to revenue, the trend is up. Net income up 8%, operating margin expanding 5% and an 11% lift in the net commission income. We also reached 2 record milestones that we are proud of. Over EUR 150 billion in assets and more than 2 million customers. Another strong year is shaping up. Our 9-month performance reflects preparation and a simple aim to provide our customers with the same dependable, hassle free service, we never fail to deliver.

Two points stand out. First, we delivered strong overall net inflows underpinned by a 21% year-on-year surge in managed asset inflows. This supports healthier recurring fees and also strengthens customer relationships. Our Family Bankers continue to convert customer engagement into advised investment solutions, enhancing quality as much as quantity, increasing share of wallet and improving retention. Second, our revenue mix proved well balanced. As the interest rate today will soften as anticipated, recurring fee income increased markedly, thanks to higher average managed assets more than compensating for lower NII, while protection policies and credit volumes picked up year-on-year.

Below the line, we stayed disciplined on costs while investing in growth levels that matter namely technology, network quality and the customer experience. Capital and liquidity remain robust well above regulatory thresholds, giving us the flexibility to keep investing in our business in all market environments while delivering attractive and rising shareholder returns. Our business in Spain is progressing in line with plan and in breadth without distorting from our core Italian focus. As we enter the final quarter, our priorities are clear. keep leading inflows with a managed asset bias, protect profitability through revenue mix and discipline, sustained high-quality customer acquisition as well as network growth and execute with the same level of rigor that has driven quarter-by-quarter improvement in operating margin this year.

Let's walk through the 9-month details. First up, economic and financial highlights on Slide 4. Let me start with the headline number. Net income came in at EUR 726 million, 8% ahead of last year, mainly thanks, as we said, to a material recurring fee growth driven by strong inflows into managed assets. Our core business set a high bar. Contribution margin surpassed EUR 1.56 billion, and operating margin, EUR 891 million, both advancing by 5% year-on-year. We solidly outperformed the interest rate headwind. Net interest income fell 5% to EUR 582 million. Yet, our results came in stronger. Q3 added significant value year-on-year. We anticipated that net interest income would narrow the gap versus last year, and it is now moving toward our full year guidance for 2025 which we have further revised to end up closer to the result of 2024.

Our working view is that 3-month Euribor averages 2.17% in 2025, notably lower than the 3.64% average in '24. The impact, however, is partially offset by a more favorable volume mix, supported by increasing liquidity from customer deposits. And looking ahead, 2026 points to a higher net interest income. Importantly, while our commercial initiatives put near-term pressure on NII, they fuel growth in net commission income, which at the 9-month point, climbed 11% to some EUR 967 million. Every component of gross commission income posted strong gains. As expected, recurring fees contributed the largest share. In fact, combined management and investment management fees, rose to over EUR 1.24 billion, marking a solid 10% rise over the same period last year. This expansion was underpinned by record net inflows into managed assets. which lifted average assets by EUR 13 billion year-on-year. This came despite market volatility and a weaker U.S. dollar weighing on Q2. However, Q3 saw a supportive market backdrop.

In fact, as you can see Slide #9, there was a solid uplift in Q3, 7% higher than Q2, benefiting from constructing markets as well as strong flows. So volumes boosted the recurring fee income. At the same time, what different mix favoring fixed income funds, together with increasing equity-oriented inflows via Intelligent Investment Strategy, which begins in lower fee money market funds compressed the average recurring fee from 212 to 202 basis points year-on-year, in line with our expectations.

Let's now focus on the key ratios across the first 9 months. The cost income ratio came in at 37.2%, edging lower versus H1, as could be expected given the cost seasonality. There is also a cost efficiency component that should support year-end, and we can now confirm we finish out 2025 below 40% as per our cost/income guidance. Acquisition costs measured against gross commission income held steady quarter after quarter ending the 9-month period at 34.3%. Finally, the cost of risk annualized on a 12-month rolling basis stood at 15 basis points, and we expected it to normalize toward around 20 basis points by year-end consistent with our guidance.

Slide 8 provides more detail on the other income statement lines, and let me flag a few. Banking service fees climbed 29% to nearly EUR 182 million on the back of strong certificate sales, especially in Q2 with some follow-through in Q3. As you know, certificate fees are booked upfront in the P&L. Net income on other investments was EUR 23.5 million, up 29% year-on-year, reflecting a larger Q2 Mediobanca dividend and higher valuations on our treasury portfolio after Italy's rating upgrade. The 50% increase in provisions for risk and charges reflect the same dynamics we saw in H1. On risk provisions, last year's favorable legal resolutions led to one-off partial releases that were not present this year. For network indemnities, the increase remains volume driven, higher commissions naturally require higher provision.

Fair value showed a significant improvement to EUR 23.4 million from EUR 10.3 million last year. The state in Next was fully disposed of in Q2 leading to a substantial uplift from the negative mark recorded in the same period last year. We also saw a positive contribution from treasury trading activity.

Let's turn to Slide 5. For a brief look at the business results in the first 9 months. Commercial activity was strong, lifting total net inflows by 14% to EUR 8.16 billion, supported in large part by the success of our time deposit campaigns. Notably, inflows came from both new and existing customers, underscoring the effectiveness of our marketing and acquisitions engines. The clear standout, however, was managed assets, which flows of EUR 6.58 billion, up 21% year-on-year. And with October now in the year-to-date figure stands at EUR 7.3 billion. We are firmly on track to reach our EUR 8 billion to EUR 8.5 billion guidance in managed asset inflows topping the EUR 7.6 billion record from 2024.

As shown on Slide 34, for the first 9 months of 2025, we again topped accelerating in managed asset net inflows, extending a 4-year leadership streak. And even with the updated classification, which also includes the lower margin segment of administered assets with fee over or fee-only pricing models, we came in second place, only a touch behind Fideuram.

Let's now refer back to Slide #5. As we said at the beginning, we crossed the EUR 150 billion milestone in total assets and in September at EUR 150.4 billion, 9% above year-end. The credit book also posted growth, reaching EUR 18.44 billion, with asset quality remaining solid, as shown by an NPL ratio of 0.78%. And this was thanks to loans granted, which increased 37% year-on-year, totaling EUR 2.79 billion. Gains were also solid in General insurance gross premiums up 23% to EUR 114 million, driven by stand-alone policies, but even more so, by a renewed uptake in loan protection policies in line with mortgage expansion.

Turning to Slide 6. We crossed the 2 million customer milestone, adding 147,700 new customers and lifting the base up 4% at the end of September. Our Family Banker network at the group level expanded in step, also up 4% to 6,682. As we noted earlier, Intelligent Investment Strategy gained clear momentum, about EUR 4.4 billion is currently parked in money market funds set to transition into equities over an average of 3.5 years. Since the beginning of the year, EUR 1.5 billion has been added, rising a material 43%. Another EUR 2.9 billion is related to move into mutual funds over the next 12 months, as shown on the last 2 lines of Slide 6. including some EUR 800 million from Double Chance deposits and over EUR 2 billion from installment plans flows, which continue to build steadily. Our trademark model keeps proving its value. It bears customer convenience with long-term consistency for the bank, supporting recurring fees and strengthening the durability of our revenue base.

Let's move on to another key pillar of our model. Balance sheet ratios shown on Slide 7. Nothing dramatic here and by design. Capital strength is one of our defining advantages and a cornerstone of your long-term confidence in Banca Mediolanum. For the first 9 months, the full set of capital ratios reinforce an already robust balance sheet, comfortably exceeding regulatory thresholds and sector averages. Our CET1 ratio moved up to 23.2%. The exit from the stake in Mediobanca is now fully incorporated, contributing slightly above 1 percentage point.

In light of this, the Board of Directors has resolved to pay a more generous interim dividend this year, namely EUR 0.60 per share, which indeed factors in this one-off benefit from the Mediobanca sale we executed in July. The interim dividend will be paid November 26 and corresponds to a total of EUR 443.5 million.

Let's take a moment to focus on our Family Banker network in Italy, which crossed the 5,000 mark, reaching 5,046 financial advisers in the first 9 months. Since January, 245 new colleagues have joined us, many with prior experience as branch managers or customer relationship managers in other sectors. We also welcome a strong pool of young talent through the project Next, our key growth lever to shape the network of the future, ensuring generational continuity as well as enhancing the productivity and profitability of our senior bankers.

Our banking consultants are top graduates who begin with a 6-month executive master at our Corporate University, finishing with the FA certification, then go straight to hands on work alongside the senior private banker or with advisor with the remuneration covered by the senior. The numbers, Slide 37, reflect the success of the project. As of today, 556 banker consultants are already active in the network with an additional 207 currently in training. We expect to overcome 800 by the end of 2026. This strategic project is already paying off. For the almost 700 senior bankers supported by a banker consultant for at least on, productivity has stepped up materially. These were already ahead of their peer group, and now the gap has widened sharply.

The advantage in managed asset inflows has increased 6x from plus 7% to plus 43%. About 1.5x in loans from plus 28% to plus 42% and almost doubling in protection policies from 29% to plus 54% and again, almost double in terms of customer acquisition from plus 41% to plus 80%. We are more or less satisfied with the progress so far. I'm confident about what comes next. Our network is set to keep growing faster, and we see clear upside in productivity.

With that in mind, let's turn to Slide #30, which tracks the last 5 years of productivity in terms of average assets per banker for the 1,000 private bankers and with adviser who make up the top tier of our network. As you can see, at EUR 64.2 million average asset per banking we are already almost double the industry average [indiscernible], which is EUR 34 million. This gap has expanded in recent years. underscoring our strong commitment to the network quality as well as higher recurring revenues per banker. A productivity edge that thanks to our dedicated efforts, we expect will keep trending higher.

Now let's turn our attention to Spain by commenting on Slide #32. Given Spain's impressive step-up in volumes we chose to double down on acceleration to achieve a real step change in scale. This resulted in higher level of costs, mainly linked to a scaling up of our platform, increased activity all over the country and incremental marketing spending. Therefore, the effect on the P&L reflects a cautious investment choice and aim at supporting growth and building long-term value. It's also worth noting that net interest income dropped by 24% compared to the same period last year. And given the significantly smaller scale of our operation in Spain, the increase in net commission income there was not sufficient to offset the gap.

Operating margin reached EUR 44.5 million, reflecting a 32% decrease compared to 9 months last year, mainly due to the factors we just mentioned. Net income stood at EUR 38.9 million, 28% lower year-on-year. Total assets grew by 14% since the start of the year, reaching EUR 14.8 billion, with managed assets rising 15% to nearly EUR 11.2 billion over the same period. Net inflows stood out once again totaling EUR 1.54 billion, 68% higher than last year. Managed asset inflows contributed EUR 1.37 billion, an impressive 45% increase. On the lending side, the credit book expanded further, reaching EUR 1.67 billion, an 11% increase versus year-end. Meanwhile, the number of Family Bankers is down by 1% to a total of 1,629. But what matters here is the material increase in productivity in the past 5 years. Just like the domestic market, average assets in their portfolio went from EUR 5.5 million in 2020 to over 9 million today.

Finally, our customer base in Spain has grown to 270,750 marking a strong 6% increase since the beginning of the year.

In closing, let me first recap our guidance for 2025. Net inflows into managed assets at around EUR 8.5 billion. For 2026, volumes are expected to remain similarly strong, assuming normal market conditions. Net interest income, down some 1% compared to 2024, and based on current yield curves, we project an increase in 2026. Cost income ratio of below 40% and cost of risk around 20 basis points. Dividend per share to increase compared to the previous year, of course, subject to shareholders' meeting approval, this dividend talking about 2025, of course. Looking ahead, analysts broadly point to a strong net inflows into managed assets, resilient recurring fees and solid operating and commercial momentum into Q4. And I couldn't agree more.

As we wrap up, I'd like to confirm that our recurring business engine is tracking last year's peak run rate, which reinforces our positive outlook for the year ahead. Our priorities continue to be growing the network and enhancing the productivity of our Family Bankers, delivering sustained net inflows into managed assets, expanding the customer base, building durability in any context through consistent execution, sharing the value we create with our shareholders through dependable dividends. 43 years on, we continue to create value in the same way, a consistent model, a clear strategy and a real delivery built on a long-term vision our ownership-oriented people and daily customer trust.

Thank you for your attention, and Alessandra over to you.

Thank you, Massimo. We can now open the question-and-answer session. Please try to limit a couple of questions each at the beginning. And then if we have time, we can continue, that is for sure. Thank you very much.

[Operator Instructions] Question from Luigi De Bellis, Equita SIM.

[Interpreted] I have 2 questions. The first one is net inflows. It is really impressive between EUR 8 billion and EUR 8.5 billion and you expect a solid trend in 2026 as well. What are the main reasons why you think inflows will be robust in the year to come as well? Do you see any special opportunities due to the inflows mixed mix in terms of transition from administered assets into managed assets and so on and so forth, network? You have increased the total sales network by over 100 professional. What's the expected trend? Can you provide some update, some color as far as the wealth managers and private bankers network is concerned, also in terms of the assets they manage.

[Interpreted] Thank you. So net inflows into managed assets. Well, we -- why do we expect 8.5 billion inflows next year as well? Well, provided market are normal. This is what we expect, should bear market materialize, should market collect by 20% or 30%, it will not be possible to or report EUR 8 billion to EUR 8.5 billion net inflows into managed assets because when the market crashes, it's more difficult to grow. But it's also true that in that type of market, we make the difference because, of course, we report fewer inflows, but the others do report much, much lower inflows. So we nonetheless can broaden our market share.

So if markets say, behave, we believe we can once again generate to EUR 8 billion to EUR 8.5 billion into in terms of net inflows into managed assets plus the network is growing. So I think that inflows should be growing as well because point of sale are increasing, the demand for advice is increasing. So I really think that we have laid all the necessary groundwork to keep growing. Also, we are in November, and we are providing a range of EUR 8 billion to EUR 8.5 billion in terms of -- in terms of inflows into managed assets, you have to consider that this net inflows include certificates. These certificates do have an [ autocallable ] option. Certificates normally track S&P or [ Fumin ] Indexes.

So if a year later, the 2 indices are above the initial strike price, the certificate would pay out a significant coupon and repay principle. If either one is below the threshold, no coupon is distributed and the following year, you go in check again and see whether you are above or below the expected level. If it's above, you pay the coupon for that year and you recover the previous year coupon as well. These difficulties closed, so to speak, and you return the principle to clients. We have about 400 million certificates which we sold between November and December last year, which actually are part of net managed assets, and they are about they have reached maturity. Both indices are above the initial strike. So potentially, they may return in a principle to customers. So the money may be transferred from the certificate, which is managed assets into deposits, which is administered inflows.

Being November and December, the network simply doesn't have time to transition the money from administered to managed assets, and by the way, the transition is justified by a beautiful reason. That's to say the certificate performed very well. But it being year-end, would caused a gap of about 400 million between administered and managed -- better said, in managed assets for that reason because there is no time essentially to fill that gap. As far as the network is concerned, well, the sales network recruitment policy will continue. We'll continue recruiting new bankers, 20% of them, they have a significant portfolio already, a significant amount of assets under their management. Another 20% of them are more junior professionals. So they are not bringing a lot a lot of assets with them. And then we have people whose background is in insurance and others that come from different areas. And then we have banking consultants.

So I really have to say that clients do appreciate and they continue to express their appreciation for advisory in general. There is a recent market research by [ Prometeia ] according to which a sales network used to manage just 9% of Italy's assets and they are up now to 20%. Traditional banks used to manage over 70% of Italian wealth, and they went down to 60%. So you see the advisory model is really meeting a specific need on the part of clients. As far as both private bankers and wealth advisers are concerned, we have about 1,000, putting them together. There is a significant trend that is steadily going up. I believe that the average advisers, our portfolio will keep increasing. The number of people probably will slow down in terms of growth, not because we will hire less but because every couple of years, we will kind of raise the bar and it will be increasingly difficult to pass to the upper tiers and become either a private banker or a wealth adviser.

As you can see, in 2029, 2020, we saw a decline in the number of private bankers and wealth advisers simply because the bar was set to a higher level that point. So those people who could not comply with the new requirement fell off that category. Then they came back in, in 2021, where you can see that significant jump forward. Private bankers have an average of 51 million assets in their portfolio, in 5 years we'll have fewer private bankers, but with a bigger average portfolio. So the total will be higher in terms of assets, but lower in terms of number of professionals. We are sticking it all on quality. We want them to be qualified, highly professional banker is managing increasingly larger portfolios.

Next question, Enrico Bolzoni, JPMorgan. Please, sir.

[Interpreted] Good afternoon. First question, I would like a clarification on management fee margins. Clearly, the [indiscernible] market have moved a lot. And can you confirm that taking into consideration the daily average assets and that the margins have started to increase in the third quarter compared to the second quarter. At the beginning of the year, they were higher, clearly. But do you think that should markets remain stable we might continue to see an increase in management fee margins in the coming quarters.

Second question, can you give us an update on performance themes that haven't crystallized yet, but which might do so by the end of the year as compared to the water -- the high water mark.

[Interpreted] Let me start with the second question first. 150 million roughly are the performance fees we may potentially collect right now. Talking about management fee margins, recurring management fees and investment management fee margins, between the second and the third quarter, they were unchanged. What is actually affecting this fully expected decline in margins? Mainly one thing that is the behavior of the sales network. I already hinted this at the call when we published the first half result. The reason remains the same. In the last 2 years, and this year is no exception, 100% of net inflows into managed assets that flowed into fund slowed into bond funds. So 100% in bond funds, then equity funds raised slightly grew slightly, but the worst was for flexible and balanced fund.

But let's say that 100% of flows went into bond funds. Bond funds have a lower management fee compared to equity funds. And therefore, of course, you see this decline. In addition, there was a EUR 1.5 billion increase in money market funds linked to the Intelligent Investment Strategy where the management fee is 20 basis points. So 1.0 billion more means that average fees are strongly impacted. Should we worry? Of course, not. Equity markets are tight. At a certain point, they will correct. If we take a look at the past during 0 net interest rates, 100% of our flows were into equity funds and our clients had increased this portion a lot, then bond funds are back to being interesting, thanks to the increase in interest rates. And finally, they can be a good solution for midterm needs for our clients.

And then this is also an asset class that may certainly level of risk since equity markets are so tight. In the last 2 years, net inflows into managed assets were really skewed towards bond fund which means that now clients have a better balanced mix. When markets will correct, our clients will be much more at ease, and they will then be able to flow once again and to invest once again in equity markets where prices will be much more interesting. So these 202 basis points could certainly decline, especially if our intelligent investment strategy is going to grow further.

When markets are going to move down, we already experienced this back in 2023. Just as back then, there is going to be an acceleration in the transfer of flows from money market to equity fund. So we go from 20 basis points to 250 basis points in terms of recurring management fees, with an increase in average fees. In 2022, there was a strong decline. And then there was a very sharp acceleration. You see this -- the light blue bars about 2022 are the step-ins where the installment would be doubled or tripled and would flow into equity funds. So the average fee at that point would really report a sharp increase because, as I said, a couple of billion, if I remember well, were transferred for money market funds with a 20 basis point fee to equity funds, featuring a 250 basis point fee.

So we have to just get used to this sort of volatility of the average fee and the average fee margin. Having said this, I've repeated this quite often. I believe that margins will dip slightly really a matter of a few percentage points because of our clients' mix. Since we are acquiring wealthier and wealthier clients, of course, not only wealth clients also younger clients that are not so rich, but also wealthy clients would not invest 70% in equity markets. 40-year-old and 70-year-old clients, the risk being the same would, in any case, show different investment mix especially if the 70-year-old has millions of in assets and the 40-year-old has EUR 100,000 in assets. So if the high or ultra-high net worth individuals have a more -- a higher bond investment share. This will mean that the average fee margin is going to be slightly lower.

But I believe that it's not going to go much below 200 basis points. I don't foresee our average fee margin to go below the 195 basis points. Right now, they are at 202, but they could go up to 207, 208 basis points because if the markets go down, there will be an increase in equity investments with all the consequences I've already described.

The next question is from Elena Perini, Intesa Sanpaolo.

[Interpreted] I do have 2 questions. The first one is on NII and the new more optimistic guidance you provided. I'm not sure whether you have already covered this topic because I had to disconnect briefly, but I'd like to know what are the main drivers underpinning your new guidance? Then I have a more technical question in nature concerning taxation because you were the one that promoted an action at the European Supreme Court that resulted in the judgment on the regional production tax that has an impact on dividends. Could you share some numbers with us in the light of the budget law and how much you could be reimbursed refunded or in negative terms what kind of impact would a 2 percentage point increase in regional production tax would have on your results?

[Interpreted] Okay. So NII, at the start of the year, our guidance was minus 5%, and now we are saying minus 1%. What happened in between? Well, the main reason is that actual data point to about EUR 1 billion more on current accounts that pay 0 fees. So it generates no income. And of course, EUR 1 billion more that you collected no cost made us go from minus 5% to minus 1%.

In 2026, the outlook for NII is an increase. I mean we expect NII to go up but always assuming the yield curve is the same as today. Should the curve change, our outlook will change, too. But considering today's curve, this is what we expected because there are certain fixed rate securities that are about to mature, say, BTPs bonds that would yield 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4% that are reaching maturity and be replaced by other BTPs that have a much better payout. Also, you have to increase -- consider the increase in our flows. So like I said, we managed to gather deposits at very low cost. We have increased our activities in terms of lending as well. So the improvement is essentially due to those BTPs that we're paying off very little amount of interest, a very little interest. And instead, they will be replaced by higher paying BTPs.

As to your second question, I hand it over to our CFO.

[Interpreted] I have to say that a draft budget law was circulated, but the government is still working on it. Minor change would change the overall picture completely. So we want to wait for the final law to be passed to express ourselves. I make quote some of the figures mentioned by our competitors, but considering the draft budget law as is today, it's manageable by us or by other banks, it will have an impact on the regional production tax, it will help us free up reserves on the non-deductability of payable interest and so on and so forth. And also, you mentioned the European Court of Justice judgment, which is Italy hasn't actually fully incorporated this judgment into its national laws. But apparently, the government set up some kind of reserve, year marked some money to return the money to the banks that were unduly taxed because of the dividends they received from our foreign-based subsidiaries.

So as far as the draft budget law is concerned, we think it's manageable. There are obviously positive and negative impacts on us and other banks as well.

[Interpreted] Before we continue on with Italian line, I'll rather hand it over to the English line for a minute, and then we'll get back to Italian.

Let me hand it over to the operator on the English channel for the Q&A session.

And now we're going to take the question from English line. And it comes from the line of Hubert Lam from Bank of America.

I've got a few questions. Firstly, on -- you mentioned for NII, now you expect 2026 to be higher than '25, at this stage, how much higher do you expect it to be?

The second question is just a clarification on performance fees. You mentioned that if the year ended today, you would have accrued EUR 150 million, just double check, does that EUR 150 million refer to the full year or just to come up just that EUR 150 million that could happen in Q4 alone?

And lastly, I just want to check also on the dividend of EUR 0.60. You mentioned that it also includes the Mediobanca proceeds within that EUR 0.60. How much of Mediobanca is within the [indiscernible] within the EUR 0.60?

[Interpreted] Talking about the NII increase. This could be a double-digit increase when compared to the 2025 level. However, it's a bit too soon to really talk about this considering the present yield curve. The EUR 150 million performance fees have to be added to the ones that have been accounted for in the first 9 months. So it's plus EUR 150 million. And as to the EUR 0.60 dividend, the Mediobanca portion accounts for some EUR 0.20. So it's 1/3.

Thank you, Hubert. We will go back to the Italian line. If there are no other questions on the English line. Yes, I hand it over for the next question.

From Gian Luca Ferrari, Mediobanca.

[Interpreted] Actually, I was going to ask the same question as Hubert. So we are talking about an incremental line in terms of dividends for 2026, 2028, you said that Mediobanca stake sale accounted for EUR 0.20. So these let's say, that a cleanup starting point would be EUR 0.80. If we multiply the amount of the dividend amount you are paying out now, we multiply it by 2 for the next few years. Will you be following this trajectory? Or are you going to pay out even more?

[Interpreted] well, talking about the trajectory -- the dividend trajectory right now is a bit premature. At year-end, our ideas will be clear. The fact that the sale of Mediobanca as a stake accounted for EUR 0.20 out of the total of 60, but that had no impact on our accounts because the extra capital generated by the sale of Mediobanca was equal to EUR 150 million. So we may say that EUR 150 million are worth EUR 0.20 in terms of a portion of dividend paid out.

As far as the trajectory of future payouts are concerned in future distributions. Well, those depend on a number of things that will be more visible at year-end.

[Interpreted] Let me add 2 comments. Our business is rock solid. In the medium term, I don't expect a collapse in profitability assets are growing in 2018, 2011 or in 2022, assets declined, obviously, because markets were declining. Though we reported in those years too, we reported positive net inflows, and this has an impact on recurring fees. But casting our glance forward, I think that net of performance fees that may or may not be generated, I think that our income will be growing. Our P&L will be growing and consequential -- as a consequence, dividends will be growing.

Also, the CEO is a major shareholder in the bank, and he and his family do love dividends. Always been a generous bank when it came to distributions will continue to be generous. But at the same time, we always keep an eye on the long term. We have a robust capital ratios, and this kind of guarantees us the possibility, the opportunity of paying attractive growing dividend even in years where the net income maybe is not that high. But since our capital ratios are so robust, we could pay out more and have maybe capital ratios decline a bit because they are so high. So I don't know whether we can think that the basic dividend is EUR 0.80 or EUR 0.85 whether it will go up by EUR 0.05 or EUR 0.08 a year. At this point in time, I don't know.

But I myself as the CEO and as the shareholders, I am extremely interested in making shareholders happy, myself included, and that is why we want to continue to be generous with dividends.

Next question, Alberto Villa, Intermonte SIM.

[Interpreted] i need just a couple of clarifications. Again, NII guidance, does the 2026 guidance include commercial activities and initiatives? Or the expected growth is actually tied to assumptions that do not take into consideration commercial campaigns that have short-term impact on NII?

Second question in regards to Spain, robust growth and keeps on growing strongly. However, the contribution to net income was not growing. It was actually declining. What is your view on future profitability, whether this after this growth and investment, do you believe that the profitability in Spain will start to be comparable to the one you have in Italy?

So structural profitability. The operating margin declined even though all the business activity numbers were growing. Can we expect to see a growth that see -- that is in line with the operational performance and the growing number of clients and inflows?

[Interpreted] I'll start with the second question. This year, we decided to really start investing a lot in terms of the platform. So we had to revise the app and the website. They were sort of getting old. And also marketing costs we wanted to have a higher visibility on the territory and also commercial costs with. Aggressive rate initiatives so as to acquire and win over clients. And by the way, these same clients are seeing a good transition to managed assets. This is as far as this year is concerned. And next year, of course, we're not going to repeat exactly the same things.

So Spain's profitability is going to improve, no doubt.

This was only a onetime step that we introduced to really get up to a new level and start growing again to create the stepping stone so that we could grow again. As to the 2026 NII guidance, it includes the commercial initiatives as we did in prior years. So these costs were based on the present yield curve.

Looking forward, should things change and they would be higher and then the same -- it will be reflected on the same guidance and vice versa. So really -- there is no major impact from commercial initiatives to next year's guidance, but they have been included in the guidance.

Going back to Spain, we should highlight the fact that the balance sheet -- Spain's balance sheet is different compared to Italy's structure. So it was more affected by the rate movement. And compared to the Italian market, it is much more competitive. In Spain, mortgages are less expensive than in Italy. Between 2005 and 2008, I was the CEO there, and I can say that things are rather different compared to Italy.

Giovanni Razzoli, Deutsche Bank has the next question.

[Interpreted] Good afternoon. I have 2 quick questions and a more philosophical one. So the first question is about capital. So Mediolanum has a business model that is generating income growth. I mean, the company grows, but you are also growing your own capital. Currently, you have a leverage ratio that continues growing. Do we have to interpret this capital ratio, which is twice as much as your competitors as a guarantee that dividends will continue growing, considering that year after year, you will have a number of one-off components, et cetera. But have I -- I mean did I get you right when I say that you are not going to make any extraordinary action, any management -- managerial action or anything, but you will growing year after year and dividends will grow at the same pace. Then you talked about the guidance for 2026 NII, which should be growing in terms of the level of double digit. So that I'd like to understand what kind of amount -- the total amount we're talking about.

The final, more philosophical question is about AI. The whole industry is talking about Artificial Intelligence, how to engage customers via AI, ensuring at a convention, you showed us your new app, et cetera. But you're still betting on the human touch on your financial advisers. Don't you think that the AI is generating kind of a hype or is a hype?

[Interpreted] Okay. Let me take your first question first. Having a robust capital ratios allow us to pay out attractive dividends even when net income for whatever reason isn't as good as expected. You may also pay out 100% of net income because the capital ratios are so solid we can have them soften a little bit and still keep going perfectly well.

The other thing is regulatory changes. In the past, rules were passed that forced us to -- I mean, that absorb a lot more capital. So if your capital layer is you have to recapitalize the bank and thus, you have to pay out lower dividends. If you are strongly capitalized as a bank, you can, of course, pay out dividends that are higher with a total peace of mind. So guidance for 2026 NII, yes, 10% plus 11%, plus 9%, I don't know. It's what we expect. But once again, we these numbers based on today's forward yield curve.

AI, just like back in 2000 with the onset with the advent, rather, of the Internet, I think this technology is being a little bit overrated. I'm not saying it's not good. It will be absolutely fully pervasive. It will be used everywhere just same as the Internet. It's being used everywhere. There are no companies that don't use the Internet and the same will apply to Artificial Intelligence. But just like back in the early 2000 time, they were saying that trading online will mark the depth of financial advisers, and this did not happen. Well, I think that the same goes for Artificial Intelligence. If you are a do-it-yourself investor, probably you will have, at that point, an even more highly performing platform, more efficient comparing to the most developed and the most [ avangard ] trading online platforms of today.

But Artificial Intelligence will never be able to meet the following demand by customers. Customers want to earn a lot of money, but they want no risk. Combining the 2 things is impossible. So when the client is going to ask AI to put together an investment portfolio generating 5% returns in real time -- sorry, in real term, at zero risk, I'm really curious to see what kind of answer the system is going to give to clients. I mean, no matter how intelligent that system is. I don't think that the 2 things can go together.

So like I said, investors will be able to count on a faster, more efficient, more accurate, easier-to-use platform. And so the market will expand, but it's also true that, that technology in the hands of a financial adviser will be a tool that will help the adviser work better, more efficiently and faster. And when the customer is going to ask generate a portfolio that would return 5% in real term, but assuming 0 risk, the financial adviser will take a seat, and you know how seat recline rather and start explaining to the client that is not doable, but there are a number of options to try and meet their needs as best as possible.

And also, I don't think that the advice given by Artificial Intelligence when customers say are panicking because markets are crushing. Well, I don't think Artificial Intelligence can provide the same degree of the peace of mind, the ability to calm down clients when things are going down the drain. AI cannot pat you on the shoulder and tell you to relax. So AI will be a tool that will make the business more efficient, more -- I mean faster and it will be also an additional very efficient tool for financial advisers. Those companies that decide not to invest in AI right now, in 10 years' time, will be in, I think, deep distress. It's as if in the year, the early 2000s, you have not invested in the Internet. By 2010, you would not have had website, you would not have been able to contact customers online. This technology, AI, I mean, is here to stay. It's a fantastic technology, but I don't think it can turn our business model upside down.

In this business, the person, the financial adviser, the human being will continue be a success factor and will be absolutely in demand. I am 100% persuaded of this. And this does not apply to Banca Mediolanum only. It will apply to all sales networks, and it will apply to traditional banks as well because more and more clients want to talk to somebody. So of course, they're going to cut down on the number of branches, but physical branches will never disappear entirely because the need for a human relationship is important.

[Interpreted] Let me go back to the NII guidance because I see that it's a matter of interest. Today, we are just giving a guidance, it's a forecast. And as with any other guidance, I confirm that based on what we know today and the information we had today as the CEO was saying the current cost and the possible forecast we are providing with possible commercial campaigns. I'm confidence again that we will rush the double digits.

But then I would like to really think about this with all of you because, say, it would not come out to be 10%, but 5%, Considering that we are dealing with Mediolanum's figures, the net income impact would be 2% to 3%. So 14 to 15-month guidance, having volatility of 2% to 3% as compared on the net income figure is not really material. So we are now discussing whether it's going to be 7, 8, and 10 that Mediolanum is really very, very careful when providing guidance. Based on what we know today, this is the guidance we can provide. Then if along the year, things will change and rate curve will change. The guidance will change accordingly. But once again, considering the amount of net income Mediolanum generates this is really a trivial, is negligible.

Are there any other questions? We have no further questions. So I hand it over to you, Ms. Lanzone to conclude the call.

[Interpreted] We end the conference call here. We are going to meet again at the beginning of February for the financial year 2025 results. Thank you.

This is the end of the conference call. Thank you for participating, and you can now disconnect. Thank you.

[Portions of this transcript that are marked [Interpreted] were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]